Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister K.S. Eshwarappa on Wednesday appealed to employees of State road transport corporations (RTCs) not to get misguided by people like Kodihalli Chandrashekhar and urged them to withdraw the strike.
Speaking to reporters here, Mr. Eshwarappa said that the employees demand to consider them as government employees cannot be accepted. There are several government corporations and boards and if RTC employees demand was accepted, it would set off a chain of such demands by others.
Mr. Eshwarappa said that the government would not accept the diktat of Mr. Chandrashekhar who has instigated the employees to go on strike. The strike per se was illegal and the government knows how to handle it. The government cannot sit idle when lakhs of people have been put to great hardship by the strike and it would find alternative ways. The strike would affect the state economy, he added.
On invoking the Essential Services Maintenance Act against the striking employees, Mr. Eshwarappa said that the government was not in a hurry. It was watching the situation. On the other hand, the general public which was aghast over repeated strikes by the employees would retaliate, the Minister cautioned.
