With children and families in tow, road transport staff take out rally

Freedom Park, which has been the venue of many protests this week, noticed children and relations of transport company staff lending their voice in assist of a rally on Thursday.

Holding placards, tons of of individuals working for Road Transport Corporations, accompanied by their families, took out the huge rally and staged a protest at Freedom Park, demanding that the State contemplate them as ‘government employees’.

Protesters assembled close to Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna metropolis railway station and marched to Freedom Park. Traffic in the Majestic space was badly hit for hours and visitors was diverted by the police. Over 300 members have been detained by the police.

“For years, we have been asking the State government to consider us as government employees and extend the benefits. We are not getting salaries on time and there is a huge disparity in what we earn compared to government employees,” mentioned a protester.

Another protester pointed to the lengthy hours and worrying circumstances that drivers and conductors are subjected to. “We work for nearly 10-12 hours, but are denied good facilities. In the interest of our families and children, the State should consider us as government employees,” he mentioned.

In the protest, relations of the drivers and conductors participated with their children. Retired staff of the companies too joined in. Vishwanath, an worker with one of many companies, mentioned: “A year ago, the State government had formed a committee to look into our demands, but nothing happened. We are seeking a rightful demand. Drivers and conductors start their career with very low salaries and probationary periods are long too. We spend over 10 hours on Bengaluru’s roads because of the bad traffic. The State government should end this discriminatory attitude against us.”

Another main demand was offering compensation of ₹30 lakh for families of staff who died of COVID-19. Some of the relations of staff who died after contracting the virus additionally took half in the protest and demanded compensation.

‘Services unaffected’

BMTC officers claimed that companies remained unaffected regardless of the present of assist. “We believe those who had a weekly-off participated in the protests. Bus operations in the city was as usual and there was no shortage of staff,” mentioned a senior official. The KSRTC too maintained that companies have been operated with none disruptions.