Transport Employees Strike: State Government receives High Court Notice
Bengaluru: In the background of the losses that were incurred during the K.S.R.T.C and B.M.T.C Transport employees’ strike in the state, which occurred on the 11th and 12th of December in 2020, the High court has sent a notice to the state government in response to the appeal seeking an order to extort compensation from those that organized the strike.
The High Court’s Divisional Tribunal which oversaw the issue of the Public Interest Petition submitted by the Samarpana Swayam Seva Organization, issued a notice to the defendants in question, i.e. State Government’s Chief Secretary, City Police Commissioner, Managing Directors of the K.S.R.T.C and B.M.T.C, and postponed the hearing to March 30th. Advocate G.R Mohan argued on behalf of the petitioners.
Contents of the Petition: The K.S.R.T.C and B.M.T.C Workers Unions keep putting forth various demands and every so often calls for strikes. To control this, the government has enacted the ESMA Act. Yet, the K.S.R.T.C and B.M.T.C Workers have called for strikes in December. Apart from causing inconvenience to the public, this has also caused K.S.R.T.C and B.M.T.C, a loss of 7.93 Crores. Those responsible for calling the strikes have had various FIR’s registered against them in several police stations.
But the police have not conducted any inquiry based on those complaints. Therefore, the organizations and workers who are responsible for the strikes must be extorted to cover the loss of 7.93 crores. The City Police Commissioner and the State Government must be directed to take lawful actions against the strike-related FIRs that have been registered so far, the petitioners have requested.
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Kerala CM Vijayan urges PM Modi to withdraw FCRA amendment provisions
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has expressed concerns over certain provisions in the proposed FCRA Bill and sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention to withdraw them.
In a letter to Modi, Vijayan said the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 25, has sparked concern among various sections of society, particularly minority communities.
A copy of the letter, sent on Sunday, was shared on his Facebook page on Monday.
In the letter, Vijayan noted that a perusal of the bill’s clauses indicates that powers have been granted to authorities to take over assets even for technical omissions.
“The apprehension is that granting such sweeping powers to authorities could lead to arbitrary exercise, and such concerns cannot be dismissed as baseless,” he said.
The chief minister pointed out that the existing law already provides sufficient powers to deal with misuse by entities permitted to receive foreign contributions.
He further said the amendment proposes enabling the takeover of assets, including places of worship and charitable organisations, even in cases involving technical issues such as violations of time limits.
Vijayan warned that the provisions could adversely affect institutions engaged in selfless service in areas such as education, healthcare, and the welfare of the poor and marginalised, even in the absence of significant lapses.
Stating that the issue has triggered concerns among religious groups and minority communities, the CM urged the prime minister to intervene in the matter at the earliest.
He also urged the PM to take steps to withdraw the provisions related to the takeover of assets in the amendment bill, noting that the existing Act has adequate safeguards to address violations.
The chief minister wrote to Modi at a time when reports about the proposed provisions in the FCRA Bill had triggered widespread reactions among political parties and various church denominations in poll-bound Kerala.
