Trade unions to hold demos against MTC plan to allow pvt bus operators

CHENNAI: Trade unions affiliated to CITU and AIADMK have strongly opposed the MTC decision to allow operation of the private buses through gross cost contract basis under the World Bank funded project.

CITU's Tamil Nadu State Transport Employees Federation (TNSTEF) would be holding a demonstration in front of the MTC depots on Monday morning against the private bus operation.

MTC has floated a tender to appoint a transaction advisor to assist it in the selection of the private operator under the GCC basis.

According to the tender document, MTC is required to contract buses equivalent to a service capacity of 500 buses by 2023 on a performance-based GCC and another 500 buses by 2025.

TNSTEF general secretary K Arumugha Naianar said that his union would not allow the privatisation of the transport corporations through the backdoor.

AIADMK's Anna Thozhirsanga Peravai president Kamalakannan condemned the MTC for attempting to operate private buses.

"We will hold a demonstration in front of the MTC headquarters Pallavan House on March 8 seeking to scrap the decision to operate private buses, " he said.