Belagavi, April 10 (SocialNews.XYZ) A day after invoking provisions of the Karnataka Industrial Disputes Act against the ongoing transport employees strike, Karnataka police on Saturday detained Kodihalli Chandrashekar who is leading the Karnataka state owned transport employees' strike, in this district headquarters town, sources said.
As the strike entered the fourth day, Chandrashekar who is honorary president of the Karnataka State Road Transport Employees League (KSRTEL), that is steering the protest seeking pay hike on par with other government employees by incorporating the Sixth Pay Commission's recommendations was detained by the Karnataka police in Belagavi.
He landed in Belagavi as part of his tour to meet transport corporation employees and motivate them to continue their agitation without fear. The police detained him when he was about to address a press meet at the Milan Hotel in Belagavi prior to addressing a group of employees.
Chandrashekahar told reporters that he was being taken away by the police for instigating the employees. "I have not met any employee here. I have not addressed any rally or meeting here. How can the police term it as an instigation? This clearly shows that the state government is rattled by my presence, but I still welcome their decision," he said.
He added that the government cannot act unilaterally like this. "This is nothing but an act of suppression. Transport corporation employees will not and should not succumb to any pressure," he said while getting into the police vehicle.
Police sources in Belagavi told IANS that Chnadrashekhar was detained as he had not taken permission to hold rallies or take part in protests here. "There was no information about his plans. Employees were gathering in large numbers. We decided to detain him," the police said.
The Karnataka government headed by Chief Minister Yediyurappa on Friday not only banned the indefinite strike by employees of the road transport corporations with immediate effect but also referred the wage dispute to the Karnataka Wage Dispute Tribunal.
Citing the inconvenience caused to commuters across the state, the Karnataka Labour department intervened and issued the ban orders besides directing all four state run transport corporations to take steps to start their operations.
Chief Minister Yediyurappa appealed to the employees to resume work, even as he made it clear that it was not possible to meet their demand for wages as per the Sixth Pay Commission.
The KSRTEL came into existence only last year and it had chosen Chandrashekhar as the honorary president to lead their agitation and negotiate with the government for the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission. It had led a four-day strike in December 2020, in which it had succeeded in getting a written assurance from the Yediyurappa government stating that it will "look positively into implementation of Sixth Pay Commission recommendation to transport staff" and it had set the deadline too.
There are four state owned transport corporations and all of them have gone on strike demanding salaries on par with the state government employees.
These four transport corporations -- Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), North East Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NEKRTC), North West Road Transport Corporation (NWRTC) and Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) -- run a fleet of 26,000 busses with the help of more than 1.37 lakh employees.
Among the four corporations, the BMTC is considered to be the lifeline of the Bengaluru public transport system connecting every nook and cranny of the city with its fleet of 6000 buses.
The stalemate has caused inconvenience to the commuters, many of whom alleged that private transporters overcharged for the trips.
The government has sacked trainee and probationary employees of various corporations, including 216 of the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation in the past two days for taking part in the agitation.
The government also managed to run 652 buses till 10 a.m. Yet, it was way too short of the demand. The Railways too are operating nine special trains on Saturday.
Source: IANS
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