Many bus operators surrendering permits or leasing out vehicles
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KOCHI: Despite having an average daily wage of Rs 1,000, there is severe scarcity of labourers, especially drivers, in the private bus sector, a major player in Kochi’s urban transport.
Due to labour shortage, many bus operators have either surrendered the permits or started leasing out vehicles creating law and order problems. Since the bus owner is not responsible for the workforce, even members of criminal gangs become labourers which results in scuffles on roads and rude behaviour to the passengers.
Nearly 130 buses in the city have surrendered their permits. There were more than 750 city services earlier which have been reduced to 620. “Long working hours, high stress level, bad roads, heat and dust are some of the major factors that prevent the people from working in buses. They prefer to work as autorickshaw and taxi drivers as they are often being booked. Most of the workers also refuse to work on Sundays. Even those who join duty quit the job in a couple of weeks,” said Mr K. B. Suneer, district secretary of the Private Bus Operators’ Association.
Though the presence of migrant labourers is dominant in other sectors, they are yet to be accepted as bus drivers due to lack of their credentials and reliability. “Of late, police action against bus workers for minor issues has become common. Many cars and bikes overtake from the left which is causing accidents. While police authorities are not taking any action to control them, the bus workers are being booked for minor offences,” Mr Suneer added.
Meanwhile, the bus operators are of the view that changing the time schedule of city services by allowing more time to cover a kilometre will not be an ideal solution for the problem.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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