Many KSRTC workers of transport corporations return to work

Bengaluru: Many workers of the Karnataka State transport corporations, who were on strike for the past 14 days over wage issues, returned to work on Wednesday on the advice of the Karnataka High Court.

A Division Bench of the High Court, led by Chief Justice Abhay Oka and Justice Suraj Govindaraj, on Tuesday said this was not the time for the employees to go on strike as it would violate the fundamental rights of the citizens.

The employees of the four transport corporations, including the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), had gone on an indefinite strike from April 7 demanding the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations. "Employees have come to work on the advice of the High Court," a Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation official said.

The BMTC later said in a statement that its bus operations have been improving from the past few days. "Today, many more employees turned up for duty. The BMTC operated around 2,000 buses and it is likely to operate 3,000 buses by tonight," the statement read. In all, 10,971 buses became operational by 2 pm on Wednesday. The government had cracked the whip and sacked a large number of employees from services for not heeding to the notices, damaging vehicles and attacking the staff who were returning to work.

Many others have been arrested and cases been registered against them in various police stations. Due to the agitation, the transport department incurred huge losses besides causing hardship to commuters dependent solely on buses. Many private bus operators too made a killing by overcharging the passengers.