The suspension of BS Rajanikanth, a conductor with the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), has sparked condemnation from the KSRTC Staff and Workers Federation. In a letter to the Managing Director of the BMTC on Monday, August 14, President of the federation, HV Ananth Subbarao said that Rajanikanth was suspended following his interaction with media after a fellow conductor died by suicide. It accused the BMTC of ignoring the constitutional rights of their employees.
The letter says that Rajanikanth is not only an employee of BMTC but also a prominent figure within the KSRTC Staff and Workers Federation, and had been serving as an elected Joint Secretary. He also served as one of the Trustees of the KSRTC Employees Contributory Provident Fund Trust (KSRTCECPF Trust) representing the employees.
The suspension order, dated August 5, 2023, follows an incident that occurred on January 27, 2023, where Rajanikanth had responded to a crisis involving a BMTC employee's suicide within depot number 21. The letter said that Rajanikanth's interaction with the media led to his suspension on the grounds of violating communication protocols. The federation said that instead of the suspension, the circular with these rules should have been amended to protect the Constitutional rights of the workers.
The letter also said, “The above suspension order smacks of bureaucratic arrogance and insensitivity of the bureaucracy to understand an emotional situation prevailing due to attempt to commit suicide by an employee inside the depot. If what is reported about Sri Rajanikanth is true, he has only told the truth. This does not warrant suspension of Sri Rajanikanth. On the other hand, the officers who are responsible for such harassment should have been kept under suspension with a proper FIR under IPC.”
The letter also says that Rajanikanth's suspension reflects a larger problem of systemic issues, including workplace harassment and grievances that have gone unaddressed, pushing some employees to the brink. “For instance, when an employee hanged himself in 21 Depot of BMTC on an earlier occasion, instead of enquiring into the genuine cause behind suicidal death, the BMTC management brought injunction orders on all the trade union functionaries from entering depots,” it alleged. They also alleged that depots had become a “hot bed of corruption.”
The federation has called for an immediate dialogue with BMTC management to address the issues and improve working conditions. “Any amount of suspensions will not deter our resolve to face the challenges smilingly and to give a mass rebuttal for your anti-worker policies. If the madness of the Management continues in the same way, it will not take much time to suspend operations of BMTC by workers collectively,” it said.