Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Jul 10: The KSRTC is actively considering the proposal to sanction a year's leave for its employees without pay and allownces. This proposal has been mooted because of the never before financial crisis faced by all the four road corporations in Karnataka and for protecting the health of employees.

Before coronavirus penetrated into people's lives and brought life to a halt, about one crore people used to commute by KSRTC buses but since then the passenger strength has dropped by a whopping 85 percent. The corporations have cumulatively earned loss of over Rs 2,000 crore. The staff too are increasingly exposed to the risk of contracting coronavirus. Therefore, managing director of KSRTC, Shivayogi Kalasad, has written to the other three fellow corporations seeking their opinions about the proposal to sanction leave without salary and allowances for needy employees. If at all the leave comes into force, conditions like the leave period should be clearly spelt, it should not be combined with other kinds of leave etc would be imposed.

The employee organizations are opposed to this proposal. They fear that this move will be detrimental to the interests of all the employees of road transport corporations. H V Ananatha Subbarao, president of KSRTC Staff and Workers Union has warned of undertaking agitation if the proposal is not withdrawn. Kalasad says that the proposal is still in the preliminary stage of collecting opinions and therefore there is no pressure or restriction on anyone.