The Karnataka Trainers Association has decided to suspend its agitation against the Bangalore Turf Club’s direction of closing their office during racing hours and the denial of mobile phone to them, for three weeks. At a meeting held on Friday among the trainers’ fraternity and KROA Secretary Ashok Raghavan, it was resolved to give three week’s time for BTC to address the issue to their satisfaction.
KROA Secretary Ashok Raghavan said that he impressed upon the trainers the need to give time for the BTC to act on the demands of the trainers association. He has promised the support of KROA if the BTC did not act on the demands of the trainers association within three weeks.
The Bangalore Turf Club on its part has maintained that there is no dilution in their stand that the trainers would not be permitted to use the mobile phone during races and that the office of the trainers association has to be shut down during racing hours. There is also no promise that the committee of BTC would meet in a hurry to take up the demands of the trainers association.
The decks are once again cleared for races to resume from Friday and the next three weeks are expected to be trouble free but knowing the ways things happen in Bangalore, it won’t be a surprise if problem brews from the other section of racing namely syces flares up. The syces’ problem has been hanging fire for well over 10 months, with no sign of the agreement with the
labour union being signed.
It may be recalled that the first week’s racing of the long-winding winter season was cancelled as the KTA and KROA went on a strike protesting against the BTC’s inaction in forming a joint committee to look into labour related problems, especially the one regarding the vexed PF use for syces. The first week’s summer season had also been cancelled for a similar season but the strike was called off when BTC assured that it would form a joint committee to resolve the issue.Though the BTC has promised a committee and given the names of its nominees, there is no sign of any meeting in the near future, on a serious issue that has caused the disruption of racing activity more than once.
