Rural Development & Panchayat Raj Minister K S Eshwarappa alleged that farmer leader Kodihalli Chandrashekhar was responsible for the inconvenience faced by commuters in the wake of the strike by road transport employees over the last four days.
Speaking to media persons on Monday, he suggested KSRTC employees be cautious of such individuals. "People of the state were the worst affected due to the strike. After the meeting with the officials concerned, the government had promised to meet eight demands out of ten and employees had also decided to withdraw the strike. But the farmer leader Chandrashekhar misguided the employees and urged them to carry on the strike. In this way, he meted out injustice to the employees and people," he said.
Coming down heavily on the farmer leader, the minister said he divided transport employees and misguided them. "The state has more than 50 corporations and all employees were told at the time of appointment that they are not government employees. They also joined for service after accepting it. Now, if the government meets the demand of transport employees, employees of the remaining corporations would put pressure on the government to meet the same demand. It would be impossible for the government to consider all employees of various corporations as government staffers," the minister added.
BJP leaders Girish Patel, S N Channabasappa, S Jnaneshwar, K V Annappa, Nagaraj, N K Jagadish were also present at the press conference.