The Telangana government is now in the eye of a storm after the death of a Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC)  driver who had doused himself in petrol and set himself on fire. Following the suicide, amid the indefinite TGSRTC strike, the Revanth Reddy government has signalled it wanted to resolve the deadlock at the table. The government has now called for restraint and said it is “keenly trying to address” workers’ demands.

The driver identified as K Shankar Goud, from Narsampet in Warangal district, was upset with the government not allowing the merger of RTC with the state government, among 32 other demands. He set himself on fire on Thursday in front of the Narsampet bus stand. Goud sustained critical burn injuries and was shifted to a nearby hospital in Warangal.

The RTC employees have been asking Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to fulfil election promises including pay revision, job security and payment of salary dues.

The suicide led to massive protests at the Narsampet depot, with enraged workers raising slogans against the RTC management and the state government. As the situation went out of control, police force was deployed and they intervened to restrain the protesters.

In a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, matters related to the RTC strike were discussed. After the meeting, Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said: “The RTC workers have the right to protest and express their dissent. But our request to them is not to take their own lives”. Minister D Sridhar Babu said, “Every life is valuable and the government is keenly trying to address the concerns of striking employees. We request all employees to exercise restraint”. The Cabinet’s appeal is on behalf of the Chief Minister and all other ministers, Sridhar Babu said. Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha said, “The government is committed to solving the issues of RTC employees. We are only calling them to the discussion table to come up with a solution to their problems”.

The strike called by TGSRTC Joint Action Committee (JAC) began with employees boycotting duties and keeping thousands of buses off the roads. In Hyderabad, services were suspended at key hubs such as Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station and Jubilee Bus Station. Police were deployed at bus stations to prevent untoward incidents.

Though authorities got around 1,000 buses, including 450 electric buses, to ply by temporarily outsourcing the work. In Hyderabad alone, each day around 3,000 RTC buses ply to commute 26 lakh passengers. Statewide, the corporation operates over 9,300 buses, including about 3,300 hired ones.