Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has urged Kadamba Transport Corporation Ltd (KTC) employees to withdraw their proposed indefinite strike, promising annual salary increments, permanent absorption after contract completion and access to EPFO and accident-insurance benefits.
Sawant made the assurances at an event attended by KTC staffers, who have threatened to stop work from midnight on November 12 unless the government provides written confirmation that their demands will be met. The proposed KTC strike is expected to involve all staff and workmen, including electric bus drivers and allied employees engaged in bus operations across Goa.
“The salary of contractual staff would usually be a fixed salary for seven years. Henceforth, we will implement annual increments so that they get salary hikes every year. In addition, after they complete their contract, we will absorb them as permanent staffers,” Sawant said, according to the Times of India.
The chief minister also assured employees on issues related to Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation benefits and accident insurance. However, KTC staffers said they required a written assurance before deciding whether to call off the strike.
The KTC Drivers and Allied Employees Association had served a strike notice on KTC management over unresolved grievances and long-pending demands. The notice, reported earlier by the Times of India, listed the proposed scrapping of the new electronic ticketing machine system, regularisation of drivers and conductors with five years of service, payment of pending Seventh Pay Commission arrears, and restoration of provident-fund contributions and arrears among the employees’ demands.
Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho also appealed to KTC employees to avoid industrial action, saying the corporation’s priority was public service rather than profit. He said KTC operates diesel buses and electric buses across Goa and had added services to industrial-estate routes, particularly for women working late shifts.
Godinho said fares had not been increased despite rising fuel prices and described KTC’s electric buses as comfortable. The government’s position places the dispute within a wider public-transport concern: any stoppage involving drivers, conductors and allied operational staff could affect bus services for daily commuters, industrial workers and passengers dependent on KTC routes.
The government has not announced a final written settlement or specified when the promised employment and benefits measures will be formally issued. KTC staff are expected to decide on the proposed November 12 strike after receiving further assurances from the authorities.
