APSRTC employees JAC will continue agitation on e-bus issue

The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the APSRTC employees’ unions has decided to continue the agitation, saying that the draft minutes issued by the authorities do not contain any clear assurance on the running of electric buses or the reopening of the four closed depots.

In the second phase of the agitation, JAC leaders will meet with members of the public and submit memoranda seeking support for their movement. They will also conduct a signature campaign involving APSRTC employees from July 14 to 19. The signatures will be presented to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu as part of the representation during the Grievance Day program scheduled on July 27. The JAC will convene a meeting of APSRTC employees’ unions in Vijayawada on July 30 to announce the third phase of the agitation.

The decisions were taken at an extraordinary online meeting of the state executive JAC of APSRTC employees on Sunday.

JAC conveners Y. Srinivasa Rao and Palisetti Damodara Rao said the committee submitted a memorandum containing 30 demands to the APSRTC management on June 11. These included the re-opening of four depots that had been closed for electric bus operations and alerting of the adverse impact of electric bus operations by private operators on APSRTC, its employees and passengers.

They said several rounds of discussions were held with officials including Special Principal Secretary (Transport, Roads and Buildings) MT Krishna Babu, APSRTC CEO Balasubramanyama and other senior officials.

However, they said the draft minutes shared by the authorities on Saturday did not provide any specific assurances on the JAC’s key demands, particularly the reopening of the four closed warehouses. As a result, the state executive in an emergency meeting on Sunday unanimously resolved to go ahead with the second phase of the agitation as announced earlier.

The meeting was attended by JAC co-conveners PV Ramana Reddy, GV Narasayya, CH Sundarayya, Katta Subrahmanyam, SV Seshagiri Rao, K. Suryaprakasa Rao and D. Malyadri, apart from 36 members of the APSRTC JAC State Executive who discussed the future course of the agitation.

Published – 12 Jul 2026 21:53 IST