State-owned Andhra Pradesh buses returned to the roads of the Telangana region on Sunday after 28 days, after strikers decided their protest had greatly inconvenienced the people.
All 60,000 Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corp (APSRTC) employees returned to work here and in nine other districts of the region following the Saturday night decision by their leaders to defer the strike.
The decision brought immense relief to those who travel on buses. There had been virtually no public transport for 28 long days in the sprawling region.
While a section of employees had called off the strike last week, a majority of the workers continued with it.
The APSRTC management operated about 30 per cent of 10,000 buses, mainly in Hyderabad and Khammam districts, in recent days. But it wasn't enough.
According to APSRTC officials, the strike caused a loss of Rs.7 crore every day.
Leaders of the APSRTC Joint Action Committee made the announcement on Saturday after the Telangana Joint Action Committee, which is spearheading the movement for a Telangana state, exempted them from the ‘people's strike’ that has paralysed the region.
Government employees, teachers and workers of state-owned Singareni Collieries are on strike for the last 34 days.
Coal production was badly hit in Singareni, impacting power generation and supply in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
The government is hoping that its employees and Singareni employees would also end their strike soon.
After successfully handing the 'rail blockade', the government is making efforts to restore normalcy in the region.
Private educational institutions are likely to reopen on Monday as the government has threatened to de-recognize those who fail to do so.
Government-run schools and colleges in most parts of Telangana have remained shut for a month. Many private educational institutions are also closed.
While managements of some institutions are not running the classes as a mark of solidarity with the movement, others fear attacks by protesters.