KSRTC staff will not get justice if they go with Kodihalli: Eshwarappa

Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj K S Eshwarappa said that if the demand of KSRTC employees to consider them on par with government employees is met, then employees from all other corporations will also place similar demand. “The demands of the KSRTC employees cannot be accepted,” he said.

Speaking to media persons on Wednesday night, he said, “The demands of employees should be justifiable. The KSRTC is a corporation. Kodihalli Chandrashekar was a farmer leader. He is misleading the Corporation employees. Now, he has turned towards labourers. If the KSRTC employees continue to go behind him, then they will not get justice.”

“Dictatorship can not be accepted in a democratic setup. Kodihalli Chandrashekar is conspiring against the development of the state. The state government knows how to handle the situation,” he said and added that people of the state will not accept the move of Chandrashekar.

“The government can not sit quietly when the common man is affected by the strike. Hence, it made an alternative arrangement. We appeal to KSRTC employees not to accept the leadership of Kodihalli Chandrashekar and come for a talk with the government,” said Eshwarappa.

Read more: Will not invite RTC employees for talks: CM B S Yediyurappa

‘Catch the Rain’

Eshwarappa said ‘Catch the Rain’ scheme in Karnataka is scheduled for a state-wide launch on April 9.

Water conservation projects, including lake restoration and conservation works, will be taken up under the scheme ‘Jala Shakti’.

Removal of silt, identifying the canals that recharge the water bodies and restoring them will also be taken up under MGNREGS as a part of the Jala Shakthi Abhiyan. The scheme will help in recharging the groundwater table, he added

Rainwater harvesting will be taken up in schools, colleges and government buildings, said the Minister. The Kalyanis situated in front of temples will be rejuvenated by cleaning it and removing the silt.

The minister said that solar power generation will be taken up in gram panchayat offices. Once installed, the Minister said the officials will not be able to send away the public from the office on the pretext of disruption in the power supply.

The Karnataka had exceeded its MGNREGA target of 13 crore man-days by reaching almost 15 crore man-days (14.84 crore man-days) during 2020-21, Eshwarappa said.

A total of Rs 3,926.37 crore has been credited directly into the accounts of the labourers during the year, he said. In view of revision in the number of man-days, the state is expecting an additional Rs 800 crore, he said.

No complaint

To a query, the minister said that he did not complain to the Governor. “I had just sought his suggestion,” he clarified.

When asked about scrapping taluk panchayat, he said that the state alone can not make a decision. The Centre will have to take a decision after getting the opinion from all the states.

“There are a few who demand a two-tier system- Gram Panchayat and Zilla Panchayat in Karnataka. A detailed discussion on the same will be taken up in the next Assembly session and a report will be submitted to the Centre,” he added.