Bengaluru: With Chief Minister Siddaramaiah releasing Rs. 2,000 crore to State Road Transport Corporations  for fulfilment of staff demands, the Joint Action Committee of KSRTC Workers Unions, which had called for an indefinite strike from tomorrow (Dec. 31), has called off the strike, thus bringing relief to commuters.

Speaking to presspersons after holding a meeting with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at Bengaluru yesterday, Transport Minister R. Ramalinga Reddy said that the CM has released Rs. 2,000 crore now and the payment of balance amount will be announced in the forthcoming budget.

Claiming that the previous BJP Government had left Rs. 5,900 crore pending towards payment of fuel bills, PF of employees, purchase of spares etc., Reddy said the present Congress Government has to pay the pending dues and run the Transport Corporations. He pointed out that the Congress Government released Rs. 224.05 crore last week  for payment of pending dues concerning statutory benefits to retired KSRTC staff.

Coming up with statistics on release of money to the Four Transport Corporations for Shakti scheme, Reddy said that Rs. 2,481 crore was released to KSRTC, Rs. 1,126  crore to BMTC, Rs. 1,613 crore to NWKRTC and Rs. 1,321 crore to KKRTC in the one-year  period from June, 2023 to June, 2024.

Noting that the previous BJP Government did nothing when it was in power to stop the 15-day KSRTC strike, the Minister maintained that the BJP has no moral right to question the Congress Government now. Wondering whether the BJP has forgotten that it had sacked as many as 3,000 KSRTC employees, leaving their families in the lurch, he alleged that it was the BJP which has made the KSRTC staff to battle it out in courts even today. 

Blaming the BJP for the sorry state of affairs that the State Transport Corporations are in today, Reddy said it was time for the BJP to introspect its own deeds when it was in power.