Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Feb 11: Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) workers, who had been dismissed from service for agitating in pursuance of their demand for wage revision and demanging the status of government employees, are being taken back into employment,. transport minister, B Sriramulu, said. The minister who issued this order, advised them not to go on strike unnecessarily.

Speaking after handing over reappointment letters to a hundred BMTC drivers and conductors on Wednesday at his official residence, Sriramulu asked them to hold discussions with the concerned minister and the chief minister before going ahead with agitation. He said that 1,500 employees, who had been suspended from service, have been allowed to join work again. "1,353 people were dismissed. Law doesn't allow us to appoint them into service again. However, on humanitarian grounds, we are employing them again. In the first phase, a hundred employees have been taken back. In phases, the others also will be absorbed into service. By the end of this month, appointment letters will be issued to 700 people," he revealed.

The minister said that if the workers go on protest and strike again it will be difficult to save their employment. He told them to have some respect towards the government. He promised to ensure that the employees get their salaries every month without undue delay.