A video of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) employees defecating on the road next to Mumbai’s BMC office building has emerged on social media. The State Transport or simply ‘ST’ workers have gone on strike against the department since October last year with the demand to absorb the MSRTC into the aegis of the state government.
मुंबई महानगरपालिकेच्या बिल्डिंग समोर शौचास बसले एसटी कर्मचारी,,,, pic.twitter.com/1UD300MF3b
— Satish Pophale (@pophale_satish) April 4, 2022
Today, in a video posted by Twitter user Satish Pophale from Akola, Maharashtra, people squatting in open on the road in front of the BMC building in Mumbai can be seen. As captioned by Pophale in his tweet, reportedly agitated ST employees can be seen sitting in a protest while slogans against the government can also be heard. From what can be known, the visuals posted on Twitter are from Monday morning after which police action against the protestors also took place.
मुंबई महानगरपालीका शिव सेनेची सत्ता असा ST कामगारासोबत घाणेरड राजकारण .
— Satish Pophale (@pophale_satish) April 4, 2022
हे देवा ….लक्ष दे बुवा..!! pic.twitter.com/Vtfi9fC0jP
ST workers defecate in the open after the MVA govt pays no heed to their demands seeking basic amenities at Azad Maidan
The afore place came days after the ST workers demanded the Uddhav Thackeray-led government for making arrangements for basic amenities such as toilets and drinking water for protesters who had gathered at the Azad Maidan for the demonstrations.
Since Azad Maidan had no toilets and availability of potable water, the ST workers had asked the government to make them available for them amidst the ongoing protests. However, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, on the contrary, had on March 31 reportedly warned the protesters to resume their jobs or risk being permanently removed. The protesters, nevertheless, have continued their demonstrations against the state government.
However, as the Maharashtra government continued paying no heed to their demands, the ST workers on Monday took to the streets outside the BMC building near Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus(CST) seeking toilet and other basic facilities for the protesters. Many of the protesters then defecated in open in front of the BMC building, videos of which had now gone viral on the internet.
Why are the MSRTC workers on strike?
Thousands of MSRTC employees in the state of Maharashtra are leading protests against the state government with a demand to include the department under the state government. This action would entitle the workers to avail of benefits that are granted to the state government employees. The protestors initially took to strike which lasted for more than a hundred days in a stretch, starting from October 28. During the strike, much of the transport service remained closed within the state while the state government faced a financial brunt of Rs 1600 crore because of the continued strike.
As of March 10, out of 82,498 MSRTC employees, 54,396 were still participating in the strike while others had resumed their duties.
