Salary delay: MSRTC driver kills himself; staff to sit on dharna today

Kamlesh Bhikan Bedse died by suicide on Friday

An MSRTC bus driver killed himself last week, and his purported suicide note mentioned that he was fed up with his low and irregular salary, and was unable to pay off his debt. Kamlesh Bedse hangedhimself at his house in Sakri, Dhule district, on Friday, and is the third employee to take his life in the past nine months. MSRTC employees have announced state-wide protests and dharnas outside depots today, to demand for their salary and dues.

The announcement follows the death Bedse. The 44-year-old had been posted at Sakri depot of MSRTC since 2007. Officials said Bedse was under stress, as he had taken out a loan from a cooperative bank for MSRTC staff and was unable to repay over Rs 5 lakh.

Third suicide in nine months

Bedse is the third Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) employee to die by suicide in the past nine months. In November 2020, Manoj Anil Choudhary, 30, a bus conductor, had killed himself and in a suicide note, blamed the state government for the financial crisis. Pandurang Gadade took his life in Ratnagiri that same month, however, the reason for his death was not known.

Also read: No salary for two months, MSRTC staff take to setting up small side businesses for survival

MSRTC staffers' sit-in protest at Dhule depot following the suicide

Meanwhile, a video of an MSRTC employee's minor daughter has gone viral on social media platforms. In the clip, the girl has appealed to the government to disburse the salary, as her father is in stress for the past few days. She added that he has asked her to stop tuitions he has no money.

mid-day had last week highlighted the issue of delayed salary disbursal by the MSRTC, forcing the employees to take desperate measures to feed their families. A total of 97,000 MSRTC employees have not received their salary since July.

‘A permanent solution'

"Last year, two employees committed suicide and the government announced a relief of R1,000 crore just before Diwali. One employee died by suicide this year and there are talks that the government will soon announce a Rs 500-crore relief. So what is the takeaway? The cost of every life and suicide is R500 crore? We have suggested that instead of giving money in instalments like this every year to bail out employees, the government should find a permanent solution to the problem and merge the bus corporation with the government," said general secretary of Mumbai ST Workers' Congress Mukesh Tigote.

"We had approached the industrial court in early August appealing for staff salaries to be disbursed in time. Accordingly, the court had directed the administration to expedite disbursal of salaries. But despite this, the staff is still waiting for July salaries. We will be staging protests across the state outside bus depots on August 30," said Jagnarayan Kahar, general secretary ST Kamgar Union.

Maharashtra State Transport Karmachari Congress president Bhai Jagtap asked, "How many more deaths?" He added, "It is time the government came up with a solution. Employees have worked hard even during the pandemic and around 304 of them have lost their lives."