Poll code an obstacle to revising staff wage: Transport Minister
‘Karnataka govt. has written to EC seeking permission’
Appealing to highway transport company (RTC) workers to not go on strike from April 7, Deputy Chief Minister and Transport Minister Laxman Savadi cited the mannequin code of conduct as an obstacle for taking a call on mountain climbing salaries of the staff. He additionally urged the staff to wait until May 4.
“In the State, the Model Code of Conduct is already in place in Bidar, Raichur and Belagavi. It is mandatory to seek prior permission of the Election Commission to make any announcement on pay revision and we have already approached the commission in this regard. If the Commission does not give permission, we cannot decide on pay revision till May 4,” he mentioned. He reiterated that an indefinite strike will trigger inconvenience to most of the people. Responding to questions on the State government utilizing the MCC as an excuse , the Minister mentioned, “We have already taken a decision to hike the salaries of the staff and we will not go back from our words. If the Election Commission gives the green signal , we are ready to make announcement tomorrow itself.”
He added {that a} Labour Court which is doing conciliation conferences with RTCs and representatives of the Union has directed to preserve the status-quo until April 9. He additional mentioned that the Health Department, has barred protests to comprise COVID-19 .
He mentioned that mountain climbing of salaries will lead to an extra burden of ₹3,800 crore on the firms in 4 years. Six rounds of conferences have been held on the pay revision. “We need time to deliberate on several issues. The employees are demanding salaries as per the 6th pay commission. However, at present, they are getting some additional benefits, and whether they will be continued or not needs to be discussed. On the other hand, that RTCs are facing financial distress and mobilising funds to pay revised salaries also needs to be discussed. We have to seek approval of the Finance Department prior to taking a final decision,” he mentioned.
After the outbreak of the pandemic, ridership in buses dropped considerably. “Prior to the pandemic, over one crore people were travelling per day. It then dropped to 65 lakh per day. Due to the second wave, it has further dropped by 5%. COVID-19 cases are rising at faster rate and ridership will drop further.”