Not heeding to the warning issued by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of protesting employee unions of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC), remained firm on continuing their strike.
KCR had earlier issued an ultimatum and said that those employees who did not return to work by midnight on November 5, would be considered 'self-dismissed'.
According to local media reports, only around 200-odd staff reported back to work, out of the total number of 48,000 striking workers.
The JAC held a meeting on Tuesday with political parties and people's organisations to chalk out their future plans. This included Kodandaram from the Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS), MRPS leader Manda Krishna Madiga and Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao, among others.
The meeting was held at Maqdoom Bhavan, the state headquarters of the Communist Party of India (CPI).
Ashwathama Reddy, who has been leading the JAC, spoke to reporters after the meeting and asked KCR to hold talks with the striking workers, instead of threatening to privatise bus routes.
All eyes are on the state government now, and it remains to be seen as to how the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) will respond.
The cabinet on Saturday decided to give permits to private operators to run buses on 5,100 routes.
If the employees didn't join the duties before expiry of the deadline, private buses would be given permits on the remaining 5,000 routes and then there would be no entity called RTC in the state, the government said.
In a statement from the Chief Minister's Office on Monday, the government stated that employees were given a 'good opportunity' to resume duties, and it was up to them to protect their jobs or put their families to hardships.
Over 48,000 RTC employees are on strike since October 5 to press for their 26 demands, including the RTC's merger with the government.
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