A State-level conference of employees working in State-owned transport corporations held at Kothari Bhavan in Kalaburagi on Tuesday passed a set of resolutions, including the government treating transport workers on par with government employees and extending all facilities to them, payment of pending wages and reinstating those who were removed from their jobs during the general strike.
The conference recalled how Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, when they were in the Opposition, supported the 21-day agitation of transport workers and how they assured them of fulfilling the demands of transport workers, if their government came to power in the State.
The conference demanded that the Chief Minister keep his word by fulfilling all the demands that he had supported as the Leader of Opposition during the previous BJP government.
Jewargi MLA and chairman of Kalyana Karnataka Region Development Board (KKRDB) Ajay Singh, who inaugurated the conference, assured the workers that his government is ready to meet all of their demands.
“I am aware of the problems being faced by the employees in the State-owned transport corporations. Treating them as government employees and extending all facilities such as equal wages and pensions are the major issues. We will discuss the issue with Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy and find solutions to the problems,” he said and added that the KKRDB has given ₹45 crore to Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KKRTC) to buy new buses.
“When the transport workers had resorted to an agitation, the previous BJP government acted harshly. Many cases were filed against the agitating employees. Many were transferred to faraway places as punishment. But, now, we, the Congress, are in power. We are known for delivering as promised. In our previous tenure, we fulfilled 158 of the 165 promises given in the election manifesto. Even now, we are committed to delivering what we have promised. We had supported transport employees agitation and we will fulfill their demands,” he said.
Shaukat Ali Alur presided over the event. Many labour leaders, including B.S. Suresh, K. Tippeswamy, Sathish, N. Bhaskar, Chakravarthi, C.D. Vishwanath, S.N. Arifin, G.S. Bagali, Ganapathi Gola, Nagesh Pujari and Shivaputra Belamagi, were present.
