Hyderabad, April 25 (NationPress): Kola Shankar Goud, a 55-year-old Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) driver, died in the early hours of Friday, April 25, at Apollo DRDO Hospital, Hyderabad, after sustaining 80 per cent burns when he set himself ablaze during a workers' protest at the Narasampet bus depot in Warangal district. His death has intensified pressure on the Telangana government as the indefinite TGSRTC strike entered its third consecutive day, with thousands of employees demanding resolution of 32 long-pending demands.

How the Tragedy Unfolded

Shankar Goud set himself on fire on Thursday, April 24, during a demonstration by striking RTC employees pressing the state government to meet their demands. He was initially rushed to MGM Hospital in Warangal before being transferred to Apollo DRDO Hospital in Hyderabad, where he succumbed to his injuries hours later.

In a parallel incident in Nalgonda district, another RTC worker attempted self-immolation but was stopped in time by alert police personnel and fellow employees, averting a second tragedy.

Core Demands Fuelling the Strike

The striking employees have placed 32 demands before the state government. The most critical among these are the merger of TGSRTC with the Telangana state government — which would give employees the status and benefits of government servants — and a comprehensive pay revision.

This demand for merger is not new. TGSRTC employees have been raising this issue for years, arguing that corporatisation of the transport body has left them without adequate job security, pension benefits, and wage parity compared to regular state government employees. The strike reflects deep-rooted frustration that has been simmering since the 2019 TSRTC strike under the previous BRS government, which lasted over 50 days and ended without full resolution of employee demands.

Government Response and Political Pressure

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy expressed shock and grief over Shankar Goud's death, calling it a tragedy born out of a moment of distress. He assured that the government would extend all possible support to the deceased driver's family and prayed for strength for the bereaved.

The Chief Minister urged RTC workers not to take extreme steps, reiterating that such actions would not resolve the dispute. He directed that ministers, under the leadership of Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka, hold fresh talks with RTC union leaders on Friday.

The Telangana State Cabinet, which convened on Thursday evening, appealed to striking employees to call off the agitation and exercise restraint. It confirmed that an official government committee has already been constituted and that union representatives have been formally invited for dialogue under Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka's leadership.

Deeper Context: A Pattern of Unresolved Grievances

This is not an isolated incident. The 2019 TSRTC strike — one of the longest in the corporation's history — saw the then TRS government under K. Chandrashekar Rao take a hardline stance, even dismissing over 48,000 employees before eventually reinstating them under court direction. The crisis was never fully resolved, and the structural issues — underfunding, lack of fleet modernisation, wage stagnation — were left to fester.

The Congress government under Revanth Reddy, which came to power in December 2023 promising to be more worker-friendly, now faces the same test. Critics argue that the government's delay in addressing the 32 demands — despite being in power for over a year — reflects a gap between electoral promises and administrative action.

Notably, the demand for TGSRTC merger with the government has direct financial implications. Absorbing the corporation's workforce into the state payroll would significantly increase the state's wage bill, a factor that has made successive governments hesitant despite political sympathy for the workers' cause.

Impact on Commuters and Public Transport

The three-day-old strike has severely disrupted public bus services across Telangana, affecting lakhs of daily commuters — particularly students, daily-wage workers, and rural residents who depend on TGSRTC buses as their primary mode of transport. Private transport operators have reportedly hiked fares in several districts, exploiting the service vacuum.

With talks now scheduled under Deputy CM Bhatti Vikramarka for Friday, all eyes are on whether the government can offer a credible roadmap — especially on the merger demand — to bring the agitation to an end. The death of Shankar Goud has added an emotional and political urgency that makes a prolonged standoff increasingly untenable for both sides.