Bengaluru: On Friday, BMTC dismissed 120 trainees and probationary employees who took part in the strike and did not report for duty. It had taken the same action on Thursday against 96 trainees.
A BMTC statement said, “Sixty trainees and 60 probationary employees were dismissed from service on Friday.”
BMTC and other state-run bus corporations have been warning the employees from the first day of the strike that they will land in trouble if they don’t rejoin work.
KSRTC has decided to transfer 244 drivers and conductors, five traffic supervisory staff members, 34 mechanical employees and nine others. KSRTC said in a statement, “They are instigating other employees to go on strike and threatening them. This was obstructing the operation of corporation buses and causing inconvenience to the travelling public.” On Thursday, it had dismissed 32 employees who faced various complaints, from pilferage and absenteeism to submission of bogus certificates.
Union won’t back down
R Chandrashekar, president of, Karnataka State Road Transport Employees’ League, confirmed that they won’t back down from the strike till the government revises salaries as per the 6th Pay Commission. He said, “Transport employees and family members will stage a protest in front of taluk/district offices. We will move the court against the dismissal of trainees. The government is yet to credit March salaries. These are pressure tactics.”
KSRTC aspirants to get a look-in
KSRTC is now planning to hire candidates who have given the recruitment Test earlier. An official said, “These candidates cleared the test, but didn’t get sufficient marks to get recruited. We may temporarily employ them to run buses.” KSRTC has received a bad response for roping in retired drivers and conductors for a short period. R Chandrashekar of Karnataka State Road Transport Employees’ League said, “No retired staff will come forward as they had also struggled a lot.”
No crowding at railway stations
Ashok Kumar Verma, Bengaluru divisional railway manager said on Friday that there was no crowding at railway stations. Some old videos of crowded trains and stations had been posted on social media. He added, “There is no rush at stations as railways are running an adequate number of trains.” An addition of twenty trains has been made after the government’s request because of Ugadi and transport strike.
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