Buses to go off roads on July 25 as unions call stir

July 23, 2016

Bengaluru, Jul 23: All the seven unions of the state-run transport corporations (STCs) have stuck to their decision to go on an indefinite strike from Sunday midnight as talks with the government failed on Friday.

ksrtcRepresentatives of the unions, including the KSRTC Staff and Workers' Federation (KSWF) and the Akhila Karnataka Rajya Raste Sarige Noukarara Mahamandali, had a two-hour-long discussion with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy.

The leaders of the unions refused to accept Siddaramaiah's offer to enhance the quantum of hike in salary from 8% to 10%. The chief minister appealed to them to give up the strike, but the leaders did not agree.

The government had recently announced a 8% salary hike for employees of the four STCs - KSRTC, BMTC, NEKRTC and NWKRTC. Terming the hike as meagre,' the unions have given a call for an indefinite strike from July 25, demanding enhancement in the hike.

The unions are demanding 35% hike in the salaries. Besides, they have listed 41 various demands including extension of medical benefits to dependents of employees, hike in daily allowance (bata) for drivers and conductors to Rs 300, increase in the repast allowance to at least Rs 100 and opening of subsidised canteen in all depots.

H V Anantha Subbarao, general secretary, KSWF, told Deccan Herald that they had no deliberate intention to cause trouble to lakhs of passengers by keeping around 23,000 buses off the road, but it was inevitable as the government did not fulfil their salary hike demand.

Subbarao said they were ready to hold talks again with the chief minister before Monday and they have told Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy to persuade Siddaramaiah for another round of talks.

Advance booking continues

The state-run transport corporations (STCs) such as the KSRTC, NEKRTC and NWKRTC have not stopped advance booking of tickets for Monday, despite the strike call.

An official in the KSRTC said booking cannot be stopped because the unions have given a strike call. Amount will be refunded to the passengers in case of a strike, the official said.

Comments

aharkul
 - 
Saturday, 23 Jul 2016

these people need always high salary apart from incentive. Now they are getting good salary and incentive with other benefits like medical, subsidized food in their respective depot canteen so on. But still not happy.

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News Network
January 15,2020

Bengaluru, Jan 15: The on-going process to select a new Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president is likely to drag on for few more days with former CM and opposition leader Siddaramaiah making a strong pitch for former minister MB Patil over DK Shivakumar for the post.

Siddaramaiah, who met AICC president Sonia Gandhi and other senior Congress leaders in New Delhi on Tuesday, reportedly argued in favour of Patil, saying his elevation would help the party win Lingayats to the fold.

“Yediyurappa, the undisputed leader of the Lingayat community, is almost at the end of his career and it is an opportunity for the Congress to gain the confidence of the community. Being a leader from North Karnataka, Patil fits the bill perfectly,” Siddaramaiah reportedly told Sonia.

Siddaramaiah is said to be backing Patil over Shivakumar as he is worried about losing his hold over the state unit, given Shivakumar’s popularity. While Sonia did give the former CM a patient hearing, she is said to have told him that he should obey and cooperate with whatever decision high command takes.

The high command is looking to evolve consensus on the new state president. “Sonia’s meeting with Siddaramaiah is part of this exercise. She wants to keep everybody in the loop,” said a functionary.

Siddaramaiah also met senior leaders Ahmed Patel and AK Anthony. He is expected to meet former AICC president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday.

However, some including Mallikarjun Kharge and Shamanur Shivashankarappa have expressed reservations against Patil’s elevation, pointing to his role in the controversial separate Lingayat religion issue which dented the Congress’ prospects in the 2018 assembly polls.

“He has a very bad name among Lingayats and making him president would prove counter-productive. Moreover, it is difficult to win back Lingayats as long as Yediyurappa is active in politics,” said a senior Congress leader.

Another functionary said a majority of state functionaries — and even some in the high command — favour Shivakumar as he is not only “resourceful”, but also has momentum. “With HD Deve Gowda and HD Kumaraswamy losing popularity among Vokkaligas, the possibility of the community backing Shivakumar is high. This may land him the top job,” the functionary said.

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News Network
August 1,2020

Gadag, Aug 1: A woman in Gadag district of Karnataka mortgaged her 'mangalsutra' to buy a television set for her children following the Karnataka government's decision to continue the classes through TV amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

A resident of Radder Naganur village, Kasturi, who is also a mother of two, purchased a television set against her 'mangalsutra' for Rs 14,000. She bought the TV after her children's school teachers asked them to attend classes via the television set.

Kasturi said, "I can not send the children to the neighbours' house every day and it was necessary for them to study. We had no other option but to buy a TV set."

She said, "Both, my husband and I are daily wage workers and during coronavirus, we do not have work or money."

"I sold my 'mangalsutra' for Rs 20,000 and bought a TV for Rs 14,000," said Kasturi while happily adding, "Now, my kids can study at home itself."

Kasturi's daughter, Surekha said, "We did not have the TV for several months but now when we have it, we will study and get a bigger 'mangalsutra' for my mother."

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News Network
April 4,2020

Mangaluru, Apr 4: About 20,000 quintal boiled rice has been distributed among the ration card holders through Public Distribution System, District-in-charge Minister Kota Srinivas Poojary said here on Saturday.

As people in the district prefer boiled rice over white rice, the government has given approval for distributing boiled rice. From next month, only boiled rice will be distributed in the district at fair price shops.

In the last two days, rice has been distributed among 61,302 cardholders in the district.

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