Bengaluru, Aug 4 (IANS) Concerns have been raised regarding the indefinite strike call given by the six state-owned Road Transport Corporations (RTCs) in Karnataka, demanding the fulfilment of their long-pending demands.

The key demands include the release of 38 months’ pending salaries, salary revision, and clearance of arrears.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is holding two high-level meetings at Vidhana Soudha on Monday in this regard. He is scheduled to meet with representatives of the Labour Organizations Joint Action Committee of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporations, followed by another meeting with the Federation of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation Organisations and other stakeholders.

RTC union leaders have already announced an indefinite strike starting from Monday midnight.

Staff members have begun distributing handbills at Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus stops in Bengaluru, appealing to commuters to support the strike.

The RTC staff are demanding the immediate release of 38 months’ pending salaries, salary revision effective from August 1, a halt to privatisation, and other related demands.

Two earlier rounds of talks on this issue failed to yield any results. A final decision is expected after the conclusion of Monday’s meetings with the Chief Minister.

The RTC unions have declared that 1.15 lakh employees across the state will participate in the strike. RTC buses are the primary mode of transportation for commuters, connecting cities with rural areas across Karnataka.

The Congress-led state government has enabled free travel for women under the ‘Shakti’ scheme. The budget allocation for the scheme has been increased from Rs 5,015 crore in 2024–25 to Rs 5,300 crore this year.

However, the BJP and JD(S) have alleged that the state government is jeopardising the financial health of RTCs for electoral gains.

However, the CM Siddaramaiah government has refuted these allegations, asserting that the scheme has empowered crores of women and will not be withdrawn under any circumstances.

Joint Action Committee Chairman Ananth Subbarao had warned on Sunday that transport workers are not going on strike on August 4 because Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, is visiting Karnataka. Instead, all 1.15 lakh staff members will stay at home by halting bus operations.

He demanded that the government immediately release the pending arrears of 38 months. “We are successfully managing the ‘Shakti’ scheme. But the Siddaramaiah government has betrayed the trust of transport employees,” Ananth Subbarao lashed out.

He criticised the government’s response, saying, “The Chief Minister has called a meeting at the last moment. Threatening to impose Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) and stop salaries is not acceptable. If the CM repeats the same old promises in the meeting, we won’t listen.”

–IANS

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