'Free bus facility for garment workers'

To provide security to women garment factory workers while commuting, free transport facility will be provided to them, said Labour Minister P T Parameshwar Naik.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, the minister said the service would be launched from the first week of January, 2015. More than three lakh women are employed in garment factories in and around Bengaluru who toil day and night to maintain families.

A decision to provide free bus facility from different areas in Bengaluru was taken following reports of sexual harassment faced by the women who use private cabs, he added.

The State along with the garment factories has entered into an agreement with the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation to provide the service, Naik added.

The KSRTC has demanded a fee of Rs 1,050 per person to provide the facility. A discussion this regard was also held with various garment factories. The factories have request to reduce this amount, the minister said.

According to a recent survey, more than 65 pc of the women who work in these factories are found to be anaemic, he added.

To solve this problem, the labour department in association with the health department will launch a scheme where free folic acid tablets will be given to the workers, Naik said.