Bus Strike Hits Life in Karnataka, Millions Stranded

Update

Bangalore, Sep 13 (IANS): Millions of commuters were stranded at bus stands and railway stations across Karnataka as the state road transport employees struck work Thursday demanding higher wages.

Drivers of auto rickshaws, a poplar mode of transport here, fleeced desperate commuters trying to reach their destinations.

As schools were opened, parents and guardians of children, who rely on government buses for getting their wards to and from schools, had to bear the brunt of the strike in the city and other major towns.

Pics: Ramesh Pandith

Despite assurance by Transport Minister R. Ashoka and road transport authorities that the bus services would not be affected, the strike was near total across the state, reports reaching here said.

Over 6,000 buses that do around 80,000 trips daily in Bangalore and over 8,000 buses that ferry commuters on intra and inter-state routes were off the road with 110,000 employees staying away from work, H.V. Anantha Subburao, a spokesperson of the unions supporting strike, told reporters here.

Five unions called for an "indefinite strike" from Thursday to protest the "meager" wage hike of 10 percent announced by the government last month.

Rao said the unions want the government to decide on wage hike only in consultation with the unions. The union have not disclosed the quantum of hike they are seeking.

Rebutting unions' claim that the 10 percent hike was not adequate, Karnataka State Road Transport Corp (KSRTC) Managing Director Manjunath Prasad said even with this increase, "we will incur an expenditure of Rs.880 crore per year".

Rao, however, justified the strike saying the management "betrayed" the unions by unilaterally announcing the hike after agreeing that it would be done so after negotiations with the unions.

A government spokesperson said that talks were on with the union leaders to end the stalemate.

DDPIs, BEOs Permitted to Declare Holidays Upto Junior Colleges

From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore

Bangalore, Sep 13: With all the employees of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) launching an indefinite state-wide strike from Thursday and refusing to call off the agitation, the State Government has directed Deputy Directors of Public Instructions (DDPIs) and Block Education Officers (BEOs) to declare holidays for primary and high schools and junior colleges after assessing the local situation in each district.

Employees of the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and KSRTC have launched indefinite strike from Thursday demanding immediate acceptance of various demands, including pay revision.

Karnataka’s Primary and Secondary Education Minister Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri announced that DDPIs and BEOs have been told to hold consultations with Deputy Commissioners and Superintendent of Police (SP) in each district before declaring holidays to schools and junior colleges.

Several students holding bus passes could not go to colleges in Bangalore, Mysore, Gulbarga, Bellary, Mandya, Bidar and Hassan districts as buses of government run corporations remained off the roads.

The Minister said a few schools and colleges have already declared holiday on Thursday due to poor attendance of students in classes.

However, attendance in schools and colleges was normal in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, where private bus operators have been plying buses, he said.

Ashoka Threatens to Invoke ESMA

Meanwhile, the State Government has threatened to invoke the provisions of Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) and take all necessary action, if the striking employees continued with their strike.

The Labour Commissioner has already declared the strike as “illegal” under the Industrial Disputes Act 1947, Deputy Chief Minister and Transport Minister R Ashoka said after a meeting with top Transport Department officials.

Admitting that the strike has affected commuters in several districts, Ashoka said the government has decided to permit private vehicles including maxi cabs to operate at all bus stations to help passengers.

“The wages paid by KSRTC is the highest in the Southern states. Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation employees have been given 23 per cent hike, but they have been demanding 30 per cent in other four KSRTC divisions. The hike has incurred Rs 2200 crore financial burden on the corporation over the next four years,” he said.

He, however, made it clear that the Government was willing to hold talks with employees on their genuine grievances, if they agreed to call off the strike.

''We cannot allow the public to burdened because of the unjust and unreasonable demands of the employees,” he said making it clear that, ''We will wait till this evening.If the strike is not called off, then we will think of invoking the stringent ESMA.”

Ashoka said there were no recognised employees union in KSRTC and the issue of which union should be recognised was pending before court.

He claimed that 500 buses were plying in the city and hoped that the number would increase by evening.

The employees are protesting against the management’s 'unilateral’ decision on wage revision.

Congress Urges Govt to Hold Negotiations

The Opposition Congress party has urged the State Government to hold talks with the striking employees of KSRC and BMTC to ensure that the people were not unnecessarily forced to suffer.

Opposition Congress leader in the Legislative Assembly Siddaramaiah said: ''the Government has to look into demands of the employees, if they are reasonable.”

The Government should immediately hold negotiations with striking employees and make efforts to resume bus services all over the state. The pubic has been put to inconvenience due to the lack of government’s efforts to look into the demands of the employees, he added.