APSRTC staff oppose privatisation at Nellore depot

Opposing the government’s decision to handover the depots of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport (APSRTC) to private companies operating electric buses, employees staged a dharna in front of the Collectorate in Nellore city. They also submitted a memorandum to the Joint Collector.

Later, the employees gave their petitions to the District Public Transport Officer (DPTO) and the APSRTC officials here. On the call of All India Road Transport Federation, the union leaders and employees participated in a huge rally and appealed to the government to resolve their problems and strengthen the APSRTC.

The union leaders demanded that the government withdraw the decision to hand over the APSRTC sites across the State to private companies. Terming it as a threat to the future of the public transport corporation, they requested the officials to continue the Nellore-2 depot without any privatisation.

The main APSRTC depot at Somasekara Puram in Nellore is reportedly divided into two depots. While Nellore-1 is continued for diesel buses, Nellore-1 is being dedicated to a private company for operating electric buses. The employees in the district expressed strong opposition to the operation of electric buses by the private firms.