While the employees of the State road transport corporations (RTCs) are adamant about continuing the bus strike till their demands are met, the corporations are managing to run more buses every day.
On Thursday, all four RTCs together operated over 4,000 buses. Officials claimed that more number of buses plying on the roads was an indication that more employees were reporting back to work every day. Among the corporations, Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) operated more than 2000 buses on Thursday. The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) operated around 700 buses, up from 372 on Wednesday. The North Eastern Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NEKRTC) and North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) operated 747 and 628 buses, respectively.
Shivayogi C. Kalasad, MD of KSRTC, said, “At the depot level, senior officials are interacting with the bus crew so that more people report back to duty in the coming days. The State government has made it very clear that there will be no talks unless they call off the strike. Going on strike in the time of a pandemic is causing a lot of inconvenience to the general public.”
Meanwhile, the corporations have continued to take action against their employees for remaining absent and taking part in the strike. The BMTC has suspended around 495 employees. From April 7 to 15, the KSRTC has suspended 15 employees and dismissed 85.
