APSRTC women employees are staging a protest at Dharna Chowk in Vijayawada on Tuesday to seek immediate redressal of their outstanding issues. | Photo credit: HANDOUT
Women employees of Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) under the banner of RTC Workers’ Convening Committee staged a protest at Dharna Chowk in Vijayawada on Tuesday demanding immediate resolution of their pending grievances.
State convener of the committee Ch. Rajeshwari said nearly 7,000 women are working in APSRTC as regular, contractual and external employees, but their repeated representations to the management have gone unanswered. She said work pressure and discrimination had increased, especially after the introduction of the ‘Stree Shakti’ free travel scheme, leading to physical and mental stress. She called for a monthly special grievance day to address the concerns of female employees.
Shramika Mahila convening committee leader and CITU state secretary Dhanalakshmi said that women workers are facing serious health problems due to excessive workload. Although the Stree Shakti plan was intended to strengthen the RTC, the lack of additional buses and staff increased the burden on women conductors and drivers, causing exhaustion, back pain and other health problems.
Co-convenor A. Seethalaxmi said that while the occupancy ratio (OR) has increased under the scheme, operational plans have not been revised, resulting in delays and extended working hours. She claimed that the women were often forced to work overtime and often returned home late at night, especially when buses broke down or were stuck in traffic.
The protesting women demanded the introduction of childcare leave and a month’s extraordinary leave, an end to “forced overtime”, improved toilet facilities, revised timetables, the creation of committees to prevent sexual harassment, strict measures against harassment of conductors, duty concessions for women over 50, steps to ensure that their duties end before 9pm and the installation of conductor doors on all buses.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) State Secretary V. Srinivasa Rao criticized the alleged privatization of rolling stock under the pretext of introducing electric buses and demanded that the government address employee grievances without delay.
A memorandum was submitted to APSRTC Vice-Chairman and Managing Director N. Balasubramanyam urging the management to resolve the issues as soon as possible.
Published – 24 Feb 2026 21:30 IST
