Bengaluru: Extending his support to striking KSRTC and BMTC staff, former chief minister Mr H.D. Kumaraswamy said he was ready to talk with the government if they wanted him to be part of the talks.
Addressing staff at Saraswathi Nagar bus stop at Vijayanagar on Tuesday, he said the government should shed its adamant attitude and start talking with the staff. He said the government should have taken a decision on the salary hike in January itself instead of taking the situation to this stage. It was now trying to use force to crush the protest which could prove counter productive, he warned.
When I was chief minister, BMTC made a profit of Rs 800 crore and the corporation even made a Rs 500 crore fixed deposit. The present Transport Minister says the department is incurring a loss of Rs 13 crore every month. The minister should take a look at the bus depots. Over 100 Volvo buses, which cost Rs 1 crore each, are parked there as they do not have batteries. If the government cannot get batteries worth Rs 8,000 for the buses, how can they make profits,'' he asked.
Drunk driver takes wheel, passengers on edge
About 30 passengers on board a KSRTC bus had their hearts in the mouth during a 35 km journey because the driver reportedly drove the vehicle in an inebriated condition on Tuesday.
The bus, with a damaged wind shield, left Mudigere town for Chikkamagaluru around 4:30 this evening, but the 30-odd passengers realized soon that the driver was driving under the influence of alcohol.
As soon as the bus reached Chikkamagaluru, the passengers took Nagesh, the driver, to task but he fled from the spot and reached the depot. All passengers staged a protest against the authorities concerned for deputing this driver.
