Employees from BBMP and 10 municipal corporations across Karnataka shut down operations and gathered at Bengaluru’s Freedom Park, seeking job regularization, benefit parity, and reversal of key administrative systems.
Bengaluru, July 8: Municipal employees from across Karnataka staged a symbolic strike on Tuesday, shutting down ten municipal corporations and converging at Freedom Park in Bengaluru to demand government recognition, job security, and parity in benefits. The protest, led by BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) workers and supported by municipal staff statewide, marks a growing confrontation with the Karnataka state government over longstanding employee grievances.
The striking employees took mass leave to express discontent with multiple issues, including the Logsafe biometric attendance system, delays in filling over 6,000 vacant posts, and what they termed “suspension of employees for silly reasons.” Other major demands include engineer promotions based on seniority, reduction in the number of marshals, and access to welfare schemes like KGID, GPF (General Provident Fund), and Jyothi Sanjeevini Health Scheme.
“Our corporation provides all services from birth to death,” said a protester, “and we demand equal treatment and full benefits under the state government, just like other departments.”
Participants emphasized the inconsistency in employment status between gram panchayats and urban bodies, accusing the government of treating them as “semi-government” employees despite their comparable responsibilities.
“Once a Grampanchayat becomes a Pattan Panchayat, it is labelled semi-governmental. Why does our status diminish with urban upgrades?” asked Rajiv, another municipal employee at the protest.
“We joined through government procedures like the KVC (Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan), yet we are denied full recognition.”
Employees also criticized the Logsafe attendance system, which they claim is misused to penalize workers, and said such policies damage morale while increasing arbitrary suspensions.
“Promotions should be automatic with seniority. Instead, we face humiliation, delays, and injustice,” another protester said.
Protest leaders said that although they had approached several state ministers over the past months, “no concrete action” had followed. The strike was described as symbolic, but organizers warned of larger demonstrations if the government continues to ignore their charter of demands.
The protest affected services across multiple cities, including Mysuru, Mangaluru, Hubballi-Dharwad, and Kalaburagi, where corporation offices remained shut.