Maharashtra transport crisis worsens as MSRTC sees suicide of 1 more worker in 48 hours

Dilip Haribhau Kakade, a 56-year-old State Transport (ST) bus driver, allegedly hanged himself from a ladder behind the vehicle at Shevgaon bus depot in Ahmednagar

Suicides and suicide attempts by staffers of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) - one of India's biggest bus fleets - continued with reports of two incidents in the past 48 hours. Meanwhile, around 10 per cent of bus depots were shut on Friday due to protests. The government is mulling implementing the Essential Services Maintenance Act to clamp down on the agitations.

In the first incident, a 56-year-old State Transport (ST) bus driver, allegedly hanged himself from a ladder behind the vehicle at Shevgaon bus depot in Ahmednagar on Thursday night, an official said. Sources said the driver, Dilip Haribhau Kakade, had finished his duty on Thursday and joined the ongoing strike. As their demands were met, the protesters celebrated and Kakade allegedly left the depot. However, he later returned to the premises and was found hanging in the morning. The reason behind his step remains unknown as police officers have not found any notes so far.

Around 33 bus depots were intermittently shut on Friday as staffers staged protests over several reasons. File pic

The other incident was reported from Ganeshpeth depot in Nagpur where an upset bus driver allegedly climbed a tall tree in a bid to take his life on Thursday. His colleagues managed to bring him down and hand him over to the police. Meanwhile on Friday, around 33 of the 250 bus depots in the state were intermittently closed as staffers staged protests over various demands including regular payment of salaries and merger of State Transport (ST) staff with government staffers. MSRTC employees have been in a financial crisis due to irregular salary disbursement since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The MSRTC has, however, approached the industrial court and declared that all such strikes were "illegal".

MSRTC officials said it would not be proper to link the suicide cases with MSRTC's financial situation. "Labour issues are being addressed at the corporation level, and dearness allowance and other demands have been met. Every suicide has a different reason and background and it would be clear only after a police investigation. As far as compensation is concerned, there is a policy in place of providing a job to the next of kin and other remedies," a senior official said. The MSRTC is currently facing one of its worst crises as their revenue and funds have dwindled in view of the restrictions and lesser footfall of passengers. Running in losses, the state-run transporter is not being able to pay the staffers salary in time, pushing the staffers deeper in financial crisis.

33
No. of MSRTC depots out of 250 that were shut on Friday

250
No. of bus depots in state