Employees of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) began their indefinite strike on Tuesday (5th August) over the unfulfilled demands of salary revision and arrears. The strike, announced by the Joint Action Committee of Transport Employees of Karnataka, was launched in defiance of the Karnataka High Court’s interim order postponing the strike for a day.
A division bench of Justices K. S. Mudagal and Justice M. G. S. Kamal passed the stay order on Monday (4th August). When the stay order was passed by the High Court, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was in a meeting with the advocates representing the transport corporations and the leaders of transport employees. Therefore, the High Court ordered the postponement of the strike for a day. However, the Court expressed concern over delayed wages and questioned the state over the handling of the issue. As no agreement could be reached between the state government and the transport employees in the meeting, the employees launched the strike.
The public suffers as transport employees demand their rights
The strike left thousands of commuters stranded across the state. With the commuters looking for an alternative, the Namma Metro in Bengaluru experienced a heavy rush of passengers. Several parts of the states, including Hubballi, Davanagere, Hoskote, Bagalkote, Belagavi, Tumakuru, Mysuru, Mandya and Ramanagara saw the impact of the halt of the public transport services. There was a complete halt of bus services in some areas, while other areas witnessed a partial halt.
Taking precautionary measures in anticipation of the strike, the Principal Secretary of the Transport Department wrote to the Department of Information Technology on 2nd August, requesting it to direct all private IT companies in the state to allow employees to work from home during the strike period.
What the transport employees are demanding
The meeting between CM Siddaramaiah and the transport unions reached a deadlock as the unions demanded a 25% salary hike over the current base pay of ₹1,124 and pending arrears of 38 months, amounting to ₹1,800 crore. The Chief Minister said that the government could only clear the arrears of 14 months, which the unions did not accept. The unions said that the transport employees had worked for all 38 months; therefore, the demand was fair. However, CM Siddaramaiah termed their demand as excessive.
The Congress government in Karnataka has been facing criticism for introducing freebie schemes like the Shakti, which allowed free bus travel to all women in all state-owned buses, while the four state transport corporations have been facing a severe financial crunch. Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC), and Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KKRTC) have consolidated liabilities worth Rs 6,330.25 crore.
The Shakti scheme was implemented by all four SRTCs. Despite the humungous financial burden on the SRTCs, the state government has continued with the freebie scheme. The state government reportedly owed Rs 1,600 crore to SRTCs for the implementation of the Shakti scheme for the fiscal year 2023-24 and 2024-25 (till October) – with Rs 6,83.21 crore to KSRTC, Rs 280.82 crore to BMTC, Rs 394.7 crore to NWKRTC and Rs 335.67 crore to KKRTC.
