Don't be stubborn, get back to work, CM Yediyurappa to striking RTC workers
Bengaluru, Apr 9: Bus services were hit in Karnataka for the third consecutive day on Friday, as the stalemate continued with employees of the road transport corporations, who are on an indefinite strike on wage related issues, and the state government sticking to their stand.
Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa appealed to employees to resume work, even as he made it clear that it was not possible to meet their demand for wages as per the 6th Pay Commission.
Also ruling out any talks, he asked employees not to be stubborn under someone's influence, and understand the financial difficulties of the government in the given situation.
"I request the transport workers with folded hands don't be stubborn under someone's influence.Last year, despite COVID related issues when your corporations didn't have money to pay your salary, we have paid it by utilising Rs 2,300 crore from the government's exchequer," Yediyurappa told reporters here.
"Understand the financial situation of the government and cooperate by resuming the bus services in the public interest," he said.
The chief minister clarified that the implementation of the sixth pay commission report for RTC workers was not possible in the given situation.
With the government reiterating its stand, RTC employees decided to continue with the strike on Saturday as well.
Kodihalli Chandrashekhar, honorary president of the Karnataka State Road Transport Employees League, said the strike will continue for the fourth day on Saturday.
He also urged the Chief Minister to hear them.
On Friday, as employees belonging to all the four transport corporations did not attend duty, buses continued to remain off the roads across the state, including Bengaluru, affecting daily commuters.
Passengers travelling to and from distant areas and office-goers were the most affected.
Private buses, mini buses, maxi cabs and other passenger transport vehicles, whom authorities have roped in to manage the crisis and help commuters, were seen providing services to stranded passengers in different parts of the city and the state.
However, the number of passengers using private buses continued to remain scarce in the city, as people were using their own vehicles or were seen using cabs, metro and auto rickshaws, especially in the city areas, private operators said.
Metro has increased the frequency of its services between 7 AM and 9 PM.
Amid threats of ESMA and "no work no pay", some RTC workers have returned to work and buses are said to be operating on some routes in the city along with police escort, sources said, adding there are similar reports from few other places in the state.
The Chief Minister said 85 per cent of the government's revenue is spent on salary for government employees, various kinds of pensions and other non-plan expenditure, and only 15 per cent is available for developmental works.
"In such a situation, transport workers should not be stubborn, we have fulfilled 8 of your nine demands. If there are any issues with those eight demands, rectifying it and seeing to it that you get its benefits is our responsibility and I will do it," he said and asked them to cooperate and get back to work.
Noting that the Transport department was for the the people's service, the chief minister asked employees to think whether it is fair to remain stubborn when people are facing difficulty.
He claimed many employees were now ready to get back to work voluntarily, as he assured them security.
RTCs, which has been warning employees about continuing with the strike, have started taking action against trainee employees and are issuing notice for absence from work.
Responding to a question as to whether he will call for talks, Yediyurappa asked "whom should I talk to? Through you (media) publicly I'm requesting."
"...there is nothing remaining for talks. What is there to talk after fulfilling eight out of nine demands. I'm not stubborn. As eight demands are fulfilled employees should come back and resume bus services, they should not fall prey listening to some people," he added.
On his part, Kodihalli Chandrashekhar said the strike will continue indefinitely till the government understands the employees' justified demand.
He also urged the employees and their families to stage a protest at district and taluk centres in front of Deputy Commissioner or Tahsildar offices on April 12, against the government's stand.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
