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Lokendra Babu, the sacked SCM was not the one to take it lying down; he knocked on the doors of Karnataka High Court with a writ petition. Finding merit in his petition, the court granted interim relief. Finding itself on the back foot, the BTC promptly requested Babu to resume duty. Justice Bopanna who had earlier provided relief to BTC to alleviate the suffering of daily wage employees noted that even if it (Babu’s) was a contractual appointment, the manner of termination required to be investigated. The judge observed that his services cannot be dispensed with in this fashion. Surely a slap in the face of this disgraced managing committee, which acts first and thinks later.
Ever since the new DCEO was appointed, there has been strife all round and in the remaining four or five months service that he has, he is sure to cause more havoc and damage to the institution. He has made every employee unhappy. He had to publicly apologise after his actions prompted a flash strike by tote employees, resulting in the cancellation of races. He spoke poorly of the tote employees which caused widespread condemnation. He is hell bent on creating problems and wants to sack several employees who have been working for decades. He claims that he is a socialist, but he is an anarchist.
All that he is trying to do is to ensure that seniors are out of his way. The DCEO was known to fight with everyone giving it an ideological twist but he stands exposed by his activities in the last few months. Uday Eswaran who was nominated as Steward by the club without having any requisite experience or having held any responsible position, was a party to sacking of the official which boomeranged. Surely, he has a great deal to answer along with the Managing Committee which endorsed his decision because the sacking has put the BTC in poor light. His conscience should force him to quit.
The BTC is rudderless as its chairman has become a dummy. This is what he is reported to have expressed with his close associates. He has no support in the committee as he became a Chairman with government’s blessings. He doesn’t mind any ignominy if he can stick to his chair. His immature committee members are showing scant regard for acceptable norms of behaviour. They believe that they can do anything and get away.
Luckily, we are living in a democratic world where undemocratic actions as the one taken by BTC will be thrown out of the wind by institutions that are there to protect citizens rights. The BTC also forced one of its medical doctors to resign all because the committee is on a vindictive mission. In the name of cost-cutting, they are planning to victimize so many employees that there is surely going to be a turmoil. The BTC is no doubt staring at a financial crisis, but it is a self-inflicted one because of the fight with the government which had seen racing action stopped for four months resulting in the loss of income which worked out to around Rs 25 crores. Despite all the crunch, BTC Committee is guilty of wasting so much money on legal matters and on needless litigation which are all prohibitively expensive. BTC’s worst enemies are its members. The majority are silent spectators while the minority are running riot.
The BTC committee comprises of individuals who are strong in their own opinions but are seemingly ignorant of the rules. No wonder ignorance has been the weapon of these people. In most establishments, dissensions are thrashed out in general body meetings and thereafter, normalcy is restored to the situation. Old actions are not taken up nor do they become reasons for appointing an enquiry committee. But in BTC, it seems, the members have taken the avatar of modern-day Kauravas and are always itching for a fratricidal war.
The BTC Managing Committee has formed an enquiry committee to investigate the commissions and omissions of the previous managing committee. The enquiry committee is consisting of two people who were in the previous committee to inquire into the conduct of two Stewards namely Prakash Rama Rao and Kumaraswamy. The report was confined to the dustbin. Once again, the committee has appointed an enquiry committee headed by one of its members Kodandaramaiah. One is not sure what the fate of the report would be because even before the committee could sit and act, a couple of members have resigned. Those who have been called to appear, have refused to come before the committee which is nothing but a witch hunt committee. Incidentally, these witch-hunting committees with Kodandaramaiah as its head have both been formed when Harimohan Naidu has been the chairman.
The Monitoring Committee which was set up by the government with much fanfare to protect the integrity of the sport has proved to be a disaster. Three members of the club who were retired government officials were nominated and since they are part of the system, they are up to their own politics. The Monitoring Committee wrote to the Managing Committee that those who have been charge-sheeted in the Queen Latifa case should be kept under suspension. If the mere filing of charge-sheet is reason enough to suspend to protect the integrity of the club, then many more illustrious members must be included. The Managing Committee and the Monitoring Committee is playing politics at the cost of the good image of the sport. One of the officials is reportedly keen on resigning but the Managing Committee is not permitting it because it wants to place him under suspension! They also don’t want the official to get away from the cesspool that is BTC and get a job elsewhere.
Who knows, tomorrow there could be a fresh demand from certain sections of the members to form an enquiry committee to investigate the commissions and omissions of the present committee! Some of the members are carrying heavy baggage and will stand exposed if is a serious probe is conducted.
In an attempt to hide their inadequacies, the establishment’s worthies have embarked on an intimidation mission against journalists. Although our constitution guarantees its citizens the freedom of speech, the BTC mandarins are trying to violate this fundamental right through undemocratic acts which, in the long run, are bound to backfire on them. They are being naïve in presuming that they can cover their misdeeds through intimidation.
It’s an open secret that good governance has never been the BTC committee’s forte. Therefore, Harimohan Naidu, Satish Chandra, Mahendra Kuga Shankar, who are the elected Stewards, should ask themselves whether they have brought any glory to the club. Interestingly, one of these worthies even had the gumption to threaten that they (the BTC committee) will finish off the Press!
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