Bengaluru, Mar 29 (IANS): Assuring that a final call on revising their salaries by the end of this week, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Laxman Savadi on Monday appealed to the road transport employees' union to cancel the plan of going on an indefinite strike from April 7.

After attending a meeting with the heads of Transport and Finance Departments and the Managing Directors of various corporations, convened by Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, he told reporters that the state government had already met eight of the nine demands put forth by the union three months ago.

"Revision of their pay is the only demand that is pending till date. The demand raised by employees to get salaries on par with recommendations made by the Sixth Pay Commission has been discussed in detail. The Finance Department is now studying the possible financial implications of this proposal which will have on the corporations and the government," Savadi, who holds charge of the Transport Department, said.

Issuing a subtle warning to the employees, he said that if they opt to go ahead with their strike, then the government will have no choice but to use private operators as an alternative measure.

Savadi said that employees of various road transport corporations should realise that such a strike would add to the public inconvenience and have an impact on the financial growth of the corporations which have already taken a hit due to the pandemic.

"The employees should not forget that their salaries and other benefits were paid by the government even during the pandemic," he noted.

In December, as many as 37,019 employees who operate a fleet of 17,138 buses in different transport corporations such as the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), the North East Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NEKRTC), the North West Road Transport Corporation (NWRTC) and the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) had gone on a four-day strike.