TSRTC merger bill: Amid pressure, Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan says bill referred for legal opinion
Telangana State Road Transport Corporation employees have threatened to go on strike if Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan does not give her assent to the TSRTC (Absorption of Employees into Government Service) Bill 2023. It was passed by the state legislature on August 6.
Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan has referred the TSRTC (Absorption of Employees into Government Service) Bill 2023 to the law secretary for legal opinion. (Facebook/Tamilisai Soundararajan) Amid rising pressure from Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) employees, who have threatened to go on strike again if Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan fails to give her assent to the TSRTC (Absorption of Employees into Government Service) Bill 2023, passed by the state legislature on August 6, the Raj Bhavan Thursday clarified that the bill has been referred to the law secretary for legal opinion, as is normal practice stipulated in the relevant rules.
The bill was passed by the Assembly on the last day of its monsoon session after the Governor gave her permission to table the bill regarding the proposed merger of the transport corporation with the state government and absorption of its over 43,000 employees into government service. The Governor sought multiple clarifications and finally gave her permission with 10 recommendations to the government in the best interest of the TSRTC employees and the corporation.
In a statement, Raj Bhavan said the Governor would like to ascertain whether these recommendations were properly taken care of in the bills now received or not. It added that four other bills were earlier returned to the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council with certain recommendations. It said further action on all the bills, including the TSRTC merger bill, will be taken based on the recommendations of the law secretary.
The Governor’s office said a press statement was “issued to quell misinformation that has been circulating in certain quarters, including the print and electronic media, claiming that the Governor withheld the TSRTC bill and decided to reserve it for the assent of the President of India, etc., which are in fact false and far from the truth”. It urged the general public and TSRTC employees to not be swayed by such false and baseless news spread by “vested interests”.
Meanwhile, Telangana Mazdoor Union leaders have sought an appointment to meet with the Governor and understand her concerns and delay in giving assent to the bill passed by the state legislature. Employees had earlier staged a massive demonstration from Ambedkar Statue to the Raj Bhavan on August 5 urging the Governor to consider and permit tabling of the bill that was passed by the state cabinet on July 31. Following this, the Governor met with representatives of the TSRTC employees and posted several queries to the state government. On August 6, with her permission, the bill was tabled and passed by the Assembly.
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