Workers to approach Centre on MTC

By Our Reporter

SHILLONG, JULY 4: The Meghalaya Transport Corporation Workers’ Union today said it is determine to continue with its ongoing indefinite strike till the state government is ready to comply with the demands put forth by the union.

“We are fully prepared to fight till the end,” MTCWU president Erwin K Sutnga told reporters at the sideline of the protest in front of the MTC office in the city here on Tuesday.

The employees of the corporation have been demanding the immediate revoking of the transfer order of the managing director (MD) A Nikhla from the corporation.

Sutnga said that earlier when she joined the corporation, the workers did not understand her intention (to uplift the corporation).

“However, Nikhla in her short tenure of 9 months has proved that she has her heart in the right place. She was doing a good job but due to vested interests now they wanted to transfer such an efficient officer, who dares to take up issues that affected her interest,” he said.

Stating that she had taken measures to check on revenue leakages, he said that officer has identified the area of corruption within the corporation.

“If She (Nikhla) is removed, we fear that all the process of reforms taken by her would come to a stop,” he said adding that the decision to transfer her was not justified given that the fact that usual tenure of an officer should be for a period of three years.

On the other hand, the union president said that it has also been a long pending demand of the union for the appointment of a full-fledged managing director with a minimum tenure of 5 years.

“This is in view that the corporation requires full streamlining. Therefore having a full-fledged MD will pave way for the needed reforms to ensure the corporation live up to its expectation,” he said.

Meanwhile, the union also informed that it would soon seek the central government’s intervention into the matter.

“The state government has forgotten that the corporation is a commercial entity and that even the Centre has a say in its functioning,” he said.

The indefinite strike, which started since June 27, has affected both tourists and locals in the state as both inter-state and district buses have stopped.