Bengaluru: BMRCL faces the threat of another protest by their employees’ union, as the workers are furious over lack of protection by the management as "unauthorised' police action continues. Around 11 pm on Friday, after a resident's complaint, an officer from the Vijayanagar police station detained the station controller of Vijayanagar Metro station for playing loud music.
“The management has instructed workers to play Carnatic and instrumental music at Metro stations throughout the day. Without any authorisation, a police officer detained the station controller for one hour for playing the music," said BMRCL Labour Union vice-president Suryanarayan Murthy, adding that the controller was on duty and had to manage the last few trains on Friday.
Mr Murthy said that he will send a letter to the management, pressing for protection of the staff. He threatened to stage a protest if no action is taken. The workers' contentions are the police entering the station without any authorisation for the third time in the last one year and holding the staff "accountable for no fault of theirs"
Mr Murthy also complained, saying, “None of the senior officers picked up our call. Later, the assistant security officer gave a letter to the police in writing and they relieved the controller. Even during past incidents, the management did not bother to enquire about any injured staff.”
He claimed that a meeting was held on Sunday, between MD Pradeep Singh Kharola and other employees and the management promised the staff protection, but did not assure them of any policy measures to prevent such incidents in the future.
When DC contacted Mr Kharola, he said, “The incident did occur at the Vijayanagar Metro station. We are looking into it and are speaking to the police.”
