Leaders of the Andhra Pradesh Public Transport Department (APPTD) Employees Union have threatened to launch State-wide protests in March if the government fails to take up pending promotions of the employees immediately after the elections to the Legislative Council.

In a letter addressed to the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) Vice-Chairman and Managing Director Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao on Tuesday, the union’s State president P. Damodar Rao and general secretary G.V. Narasayya pointed to the fact that promotions of around 3,000 APSRTC employees had been pending for the last eight years.

They demanded that the promotions be given based on the recruitment regulations and qualification of the employees as per the pre-merger system.

They said even though Mr. Tirumala Rao had sent a recommendation to the government on the issue of promotions, the delay continued, as the government said that it awaited legal advice on the issue.

Citing cases of many eligible employees who retired without a promotion due to the inordinate delay, they said senior employees with over 30 years of service were still waiting for promotions.

They delay, they alleged, also had an adverse impact on the smooth functioning of the APSRTC, as it was being run by in-charge officers who were unable to take decisions on crucial issues.

They also requested the management to grant special casual leave to women employees on March 8, celebrated as International Women’s Day and treat it as ‘on-duty’ day.

Pointing out that out of the total 5,203 women employees in the APSRTC, 4,510 of them were conductors, the union leaders made an appeal to the management to celebrate the occasion and felicitate women employees across all depots and units in the State.