CITU leaders condemn Mangalam depot sale

Tirupati: CITU State Vice-President Kandarapu Murali has strongly condemned the state government move to sell 10 acres of land from Mangalam Depot, valued at Rs 100 crore, to Pinnacle company from Pune.

Murali visited the depot with CITU district president S Jayachandra and treasurer Kumar here on Tuesday.

Speaking on the occasion he said that failure to reverse this decision would spark public protests and issued a stern alert to the state government.

Murali demanded the coalition government scrap its plans to privatize RTC fixed assets worth nearly Rs 20,000 crore statewide. He urged workers to unite with public backing to safeguard these assets for future generations. Instead of handing depots and garages to private electric bus firms like Pinnacle for so-called facilities, the government should develop them to protect hundreds of jobs, he said.

The government promoted electric buses for environmental gains but now allocates existing RTC land for their depots, Murali criticized.

He said under the PM e-Bus scheme, a cabinet decision handing over land from 12 RTC depots worth thousands of crores to private players across the state. Citing GO No. 88 for full electric operations by 2029, he warned it risks 9,000 jobs and recalled CITU's failed two-year fight to save an RTC workshop near TTD due to lack of unity.

These moves threaten direct and indirect employment in depot areas. He called for all unions and depot units to launch organized protests to protect public RTC assets, with CITU offering full support.

Manyam, Kumar, Murali and Reddeppa were present.