An attempt to drive home a point

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Dismissed from service on short notice, former empanelled conductors of KSRTC are working on every possible way to receive the attention of authorities and the public.

Among their latest attempt was to clean a temple pond, when their protest crossed three weeks on Sunday.

They will stage protest in front of the secretariat from January 21, demanding the government to reinstate them in service. They were dismissed from service following an HC order to appoint the conductors in PSC list.

A group of conductors visited the Bala Subramanya Swamy Temple near Housing Board Junction on Sunday and found that the pond was covered with weeds and algae. Thus, they decided to clean the pond.

“With no jobs and revenue many among us have no other option than to wait for a favourable response from the government. The protesters do not have any financial support from any organization and it is through the public donation that we arrange the posters and some snacks during the protests. During the visit to the pond, we found that it was not clean. So, the

cleaning drive

was conducted as payback to the public, who are supporting us through their contributions,” said Dinesh Babu, coordinator of collective of empanelled conductors.

Twenty people participated in the cleaning activities, which lasted for more than two hours.

“We did not inform any official from the corporation.

The residents

were very supportive, who extended help in disposing the weeds and waste removed from the pond,” added Dinesh.

According to

Thampanoor

ward councillor M V Jayalekshmi, neither the temple authorities nor the residents requested them to clean the pond. It was informed that a group of conductors, who visited the temple area, cleaned the pond.

Earlier, ‘shayanapradakshanam’ and a march to

Legislative Assembly

were conducted by the conductors in protest against the delay in reinstatement to service.