Traffic blocked on Mysuru highway for 10 hours

Thousands of vehicles were stranded on the Mysuru-Bengaluru highway on Monday for more than 10 hours as garment resorted to a protest against the new PF withdrwal policy.

Motorists were left frustrated as more than 4,000 women employees of Sai Readymade Garments, at Gejjalagere Industrial Area in Mandya district, blocked the busy road.

The employees gathered on the road at 9 am and continued the protest till evening, braving the scorching sun. Meanwhile, traffic was diverted via Malavalli from Maddur for some time. But, protesters blocked that road too after a while, when they reached Maddur in a procession. Later, vehicles had to be diverted via Halagur and Malavalli from Rudrakshipura itself.

The employees raised slogans against Deputy Commissioner Dr Ajay Nagabushan and SP Sudhirkumar Reddy, who visited the spot at 4.30 pm. The protesters were unrelenting, leading to heated exchanges and scuffles, leaving Shobha, an employee, injured. She is being treated at the government hospital in the town. A few angry workers threw stones at the tourist bungalow, damaging window panes.

In an bid to calm down the situation, the DC held talks with representatives of the employees at the tourist bungalow. He explained that the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) will hold talks with the government in this regard on April 26 and requested them to withdraw the protest.

However, the employees were adamant that they would not return to work till the problem was sorted out and said they would instead continue peaceful protests in front of the DC’s office. Later, they withdrew the protest for the day and dispersed. Three police platoons belonging to DAR have been deployed at Gejjalagere, with higher officials camping at the spot.