Pro-Left in Kerala road transport go on strike

     Thiruvananthapuram: The pro-Left unions in the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) went on a day's strike on Thursday. The employees of KSRTC decided to go on strike despite the Government's announcement to distribute 8 per cent dearness allowance (DA) arrears.

    Transport Minister N Sakthan told newspersons that the DA would be given in four instalments. The extra DA amount for January, February and March would be merged with Provident Fund and the revised amount would be given in April. The Government would have to bear an additional liability of Rs 1.44 crore a year for this purpose, Sakthan said. The Transport Minister said the unions' demand to nationalise Kottayam-Kumili route, where around 1,300 private buses were now operating, was not practical. Terming the campaign as 'politically motivated', he said not a single route had been privatised during the United Democratic Front (UDF) Government's tenure.

    The main demands of the striking employees are to stop the privatization of nationlised routes, to protect the KSRTC as a Public Sector Unit and the immediate release of 27 per cent DA arrears. KSRTC Employees Association leader M Radhakrishnan said the Government's announcement was a gimmick to fool the employees. KSRTC managing director had warned that the permanent employees who do not turn up for duty on Thursday would not be paid any salary and the empanel led employees who do not turn up would be dismissed.