Karnataka: Huge revenue dent as bus strike enters 7th day

Bengaluru: As the indefinite strike by the employees of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation over wage-related issues entered the 8th day on Wednesday, the corporation registered a revenue loss of Rs 152 crore.

In a statement, the state transport department said the KSRTC incurred a loss of Rs 70 crore, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation Rs 20 crore, North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation Rs 30.5 crore and North East Karnataka Road Transport Corporation Rs 31.5 crore.

Out of 17,000-odd buses in the four corporations, the transport department managed to run 3,024 buses including 1,572 KSRTC and 394 BMTC buses during the strike. In spite of government's warning that stricter measure would be taken against striking employees if they failed to report for duty immediately, they continued to stick to their demands and refused to call off strike.

However, in a positive development on Wednesday, many staffers reported to work. The Chief Minister directed officials to provide security to those transport employees who are willing to join duty. He also instructed the police to deploy a constable on each bus.

The workers of four corporations BMTC, KSRTC, NWKRTC and NEKRTC, under the banner of Karnataka State Road Transport Employees League, went on strike on last Wednesday, demanding that the government implement a salary system as per the 6th Pay Commission for workers of state transport undertakings.

Revenue loss to all the four corporations

♦ KSRTC - Rs.70.0 cr

♦ BMTC - Rs.20.0 cr

♦ NWKRTC - Rs. 30.5 cr

♦ NEKRTC - Rs. 31.5 cr

Buses damaged

♦ KSRTC - 35 buses

(Ambaari Dream Class 2, Volvo Multiaxle 2)

♦ BMTC - 3 buses

♦ NWKRTC - 3 buses

♦ NEKRTC - 20 buses