Change in Metro train frequency on Monday morning causes chaos at major stations; BMRCL slammed
Bengaluru: Namma Metro commuters were seen fuming at key stations of the city on Monday morning, as the trains were scheduled at 10-minute intervals during peak hours, leading to overcrowding and also chaos at the stations.
The unexpected change in train frequency led to widespread outrage among office-goers in the city, with many passengers slamming Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) on social media for the inconvenience it had caused them. Videos from major stations like Majestic and Magadi Road that showed the platforms to be packed and passengers struggling to enter trains that were already overcrowded were also shared.
Bengaluru Central MP PC Mohan, who also hit out at BMRCL on his personal ‘X’ account, called it unacceptable mismanagement at Majestic Metro Station on Monday morning. “Reducing train frequency to 10 minutes during peak hours, assuming everyone has a holiday, created absolute chaos. BMRCL must plan better in such cases and restore normal frequency immediately,” he added.
One of the commuters called the mayhem of more than 30 minutes at Majestic outrageous, since the rate of Metro tickets had been hiked recently. Another passenger said that, after a 10-minute wait, the train arrived, but the commuters found it already jam-packed and had no room to enter.
Targeting BMRCL for its planning and crowd management, many users on social media opined that such poor management could lead to stampedes. One user posted, “BMRCL thinks everyone has a holiday... Majestic will have a stampede one of these days and only BMRCL will be to blame. No queue, no rules—free for all today.”
The commuters have urged BMRCL to improve the communication and contingency planning to prevent breakdowns during peak hours of especially working weekdays.
Unacceptable mismanagement at Majestic Metro Station this morning. Reducing train frequency to 10 mins during peak hours, assuming everyone has a holiday, created absolute chaos. BMRCL must plan better in such cases and restore normal frequency immediately. pic.twitter.com/rkp7VPIKKi
— P C Mohan (@PCMohanMP) April 14, 2025
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
SC to hear pleas for reviewing wages of priests, temple staff
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a plea to constitute a judicial commission or an expert committee to review the wages and other benefits given to priests, 'sevadars' and temple staff in state-controlled temples.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta is likely to hear the PIL filed by advocate Ashwini Upadhyay.
The plea, filed through advocate Ashwani Dubey, seeks directions to the Centre and states to constitute a judicial commission or an expert committee to review the remuneration and other benefits given to the priests and temple staff in state-controlled temples.
"Petitioner also seeks a declaration that priests and temple staff are employee' under Section 2(k) of the Code on Wages, 2019. Petitioner submits that once the State assumes the administrative, economic and financial control over temples, an employer-employee relationship arises and denial of dignified wages to priests and temple staff violates the right to livelihood guaranteed under Article 21," it said.
Upadhyay said the cause of action accrued on April 4, when he went to Varanasi to attend a public programme and after performing 'Rudrabhishek' in the Kashi Vishwanath temple, which is controlled by the state, he came to know that even the minimum wages to live with dignity are not given to the priests and temple staff.
"Recently, in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, priests and temple staff organised a large-scale protest demanding the minimum wages. Priests and temple staff are not getting even the minimum wage prescribed by the State for unskilled and semi-skilled workers. This is a systemic exploitation. State is acting as a model employer through the endowments department, but violating the minimum wages Act and the directive principles of state policy (Article 43)," it said.
The plea further said the continued refusal to meet the minimum wages with the 2026 inflation-adjusted cost of living index has forced the petitioner to seek judicial intervention to prevent the further marginalisation of priests and temple staff.
Upadhyay further said the precarious nature of livelihood was starkly exposed on February 7, 2025, when a Tamil Nadu department issued a circular at the 'Dandayuthapani Swami Temple' in Madurai, strictly prohibiting priests from accepting 'dakshina' in 'aarti plates'.
"It is necessary to state that priests in such temples often receive no formal salary from the State and rely entirely on 'Dakshina'; the State's administrative order directly threatened them with starvation. Although withdrawn due to public outrage, the incident highlights the State's arbitrary power over the survival of the priests. This is also a bitter truth that States are controlling lakhs of temples but not a single mosque or church," the PIL claimed.
The petition, alternatively, sought direction to the Centre and states to take appropriate steps for the welfare of priests, sevadars and other temple staff in the spirit of the Allahabad High Court's earlier judgments.
