Thiruvananthapuram: Public transport facility offered by the state-run Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) could be declared an essential service. Transport Minister Antony Raju has warned that the state government is considering such a drastic action to maintain seamless service to the public by invoking the Kerala Essential Services Maintenance Act, 1994.
Raju conveyed the likely move following the commencement of a two-day strike by the employees union of the state-run public transporter on Friday.
The Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA), a national law, aims to ensure the delivery of certain services, which if hindered by strikes or other acts, would in turn affect the normal life of the people. Public transport and health services come under this national law. Hospitals, milk supply and delivery of newspapers are among those considered essential services in Kerala.
A ministerial-level talk held last night in the Kerala capital could not reach a settlement over the strike announced earlier by the KSRTC trade unions. Subsequently, the employees began the strike from Friday morning, derailing public transport catered to by the KSRTC buses all across Kerala.
"Action will be taken for going on strike. No way the strike can be justified," the Minister stated on Friday.
The stir has been called by the KSRTC trade unions demanding revision of wages. The transport corporation has not revised wages in the last 9 years.
Meanwhile, private buses in the state too may go off the roads as the organisations of bus owners have announced an indefinite strike from November 9. The unions are demanding subsidies on diesel prices and a hike in the students' fares.
