Explaining what led to today’s strike, staffer Manoj Singh said this morning the drivers took out the buses from the Baridih depot as usual and left for their respective routes. “One of our buses was standing in front of Jamshedpur Eye Hospital at 8am as the conductor was picking up passengers for the Pardih route. In the meantime, deputy superintendent of police (traffic) G.N. Singh arrived at the spot and hit the side-view mirror of the bus with his baton,shattering it into pieces,” he said. As news of the incident spread quickly, the other buses stopped plying.
Singh claimed that in the past too, drivers and conductors of city buses had been humiliated and roughed up by the traffic police and mini-bus drivers. He said in October, some city bus service staffers had been manhandled by rival minibus operators at Govindpur, leading to a token strike. A few days after that incident, another bus employee was assaulted by a traffic policeman for parking in a no-parking zone.
The protesting drivers and conductors said that they would not return to work until the administration allotted them a proper centrally-located bus stand from where they could pick up passengers for different routes.
“Despite providing good service and solving the communication problems of the city to a great extent, the city bus service is not being given its due respect. And because of that, the staff is suffering,” said Singh.
Rakesh Kumar Singh, the local in-charge of JTDC, confirmed that the city buses had stopped plying indefinitely as the drivers and conductors were on strike.
The JTDC official said he had let alerted his superiors in Ranchi about the new development. He also went over to the East Singhbhum deputy commissioner’s office with a request for a permanent bus stand.
“We went to the DC to talk about the problems being faced by the city bus service management. We wanted the plot of land opposite Hotel Smitha for a bus stand. But as DC Hemani Pande was not in office, we left a petition requesting allotment of the plot as early as possible,” said the JTDC official.
The city bus service is looked after by Jharkhand Tourism Development Corporation (JTDC) and as of now 35 buses are plying on different routes across the city. Fifteen more buses are yet to be pressed into service.
Singh claimed that in the past too, drivers and conductors of city buses had been humiliated and roughed up by the traffic police and mini-bus drivers. He said in October, some city bus service staffers had been manhandled by rival minibus operators at Govindpur, leading to a token strike. A few days after that incident, another bus employee was assaulted by a traffic policeman for parking in a no-parking zone.
The protesting drivers and conductors said that they would not return to work until the administration allotted them a proper centrally-located bus stand from where they could pick up passengers for different routes.
“Despite providing good service and solving the communication problems of the city to a great extent, the city bus service is not being given its due respect. And because of that, the staff is suffering,” said Singh.
Rakesh Kumar Singh, the local in-charge of JTDC, confirmed that the city buses had stopped plying indefinitely as the drivers and conductors were on strike.
The JTDC official said he had let alerted his superiors in Ranchi about the new development. He also went over to the East Singhbhum deputy commissioner’s office with a request for a permanent bus stand.
“We went to the DC to talk about the problems being faced by the city bus service management. We wanted the plot of land opposite Hotel Smitha for a bus stand. But as DC Hemani Pande was not in office, we left a petition requesting allotment of the plot as early as possible,” said the JTDC official.
The city bus service is looked after by Jharkhand Tourism Development Corporation (JTDC) and as of now 35 buses are plying on different routes across the city. Fifteen more buses are yet to be pressed into service.
Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1101229/jsp/jharkhand/story_13363933.jsp
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