Bengaluru, Jul 29: Flag bearers of the recent bus strike that brought the government to its knees were in for a rude shock on Thursday when the BMTC and KSRTC administration handed them their termination letters as they came to resume work.
As they reached their respective offices, 55 employees who actively took part in the strike were given termination letters and asked to pack their bags and leave. The two corporations also suspended 27 people citing such reasons as unauthorised long absenteeism from work, corruption charges and misbehavior in office. In addition, the KSRTC has kept ready the “charge sheet” against 65 employees in the Mysuru division and is expected to issue them soon, according to the employees' union.
G Venkatesh, a driver in the BMTC's Rajarajeshwari Nagar depot, said the depot manager asked him to wait for a few hours when he went for the general shift at 6.30 am on Thursday.
The manager later handed him a termination letter. The reason cited was that there was a misbehavior case against him in 2012. Anand, a driver attached to the Kengeri depot, was informed by the official concerned about the dismissal order issued against him, but he did not turn up to receive it.
The unions of state-run transport corporation staff have accused the administration of “taking revenge” against them as they locked horns with the government over pay hike and did not heed the repeated appeals to call off the strike.
H V Anantha Subbarao, general secretary of KSRTC Staff and Workers' Federation, blamed Rajender Kumar Kataria, Managing Director of KSRTC, for “spoiling” the harmony between the unions and the corporations. He said such an extreme action was never taken when the employees went on strike. The unions will fight until the employees are reinstated, he added.
The KSRTC administration defended the action against the staff saying it was “routine” and had nothing to do with the strike. Kataria told Deccan Herald that an employe could not be dismissed overnight. The action taken was the result of inquiries pending against them for at least three to four years, he said.
Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy echoed a similar opinion. The regional controller of the BMTC had despatched dismissal and suspension orders to the depots concerned long ago. They were handed over to them on Thursday when they came back after strike, he said.
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