Transport staff unions demand probe into oil outlet scam in Eluru

Leaders of the AP Public Transport Department Employees' Union have urged the authorities to investigate the diesel scam at an APSRTC pump in Eluru and revoke suspension of employees who were being made scapegoats for the irregularities resorted to by higher-level officials. In a statement on Friday, the APPTD Employees' Union State president P. Damodar Rao and general secretary G.V. Narasayya alleged that the RTC officials in Eluru failed to supervise the diesel pump established in 2021. They said the procedure, the responsibilities or duties for proper operation of the pump were not clearly defined. Instead of assigning responsibilities to the officials, all the accountability was placed on outsourced employees. The Employees Union leader said because of this negligence, the recent audit had identified irregularities amounting to nearly ₹82 lakh. They alleged that instead of filing a police complaint and ensuring action against the responsible persons, senior RTC officials intervened and collected around ₹50 lakh from nine employees and exempted them from the case. The union leaders alleged that four other employees were pressured to pay money and were threatened with suspension. “Since they refused to pay for a mistake they did not commit, they were unjustly suspended,” said Mr. Damodar Rao, informing that the four suspended employees included M.S. Rao, APSRTC State and Workers’ Federation’s State president Ch. Sundarayya and two others from the Eluru depot. The union leaders demanded that any action be taken only after a thorough investigation. They said if the suspension orders against the four employees were not revoked, the protest that had started at the depot level would be escalated and will not stop until justice is ensured. Meanwhile, leaders of APSRTC Staff and Workers’ Federation also demanded immediate revocation of the employees’ suspension. They said persons responsible for the irregularities at the retail oil outlet in Eluru depot should be brought to book and officials should stop their attempts to unfairly target innocent individuals.