Poor show of state buses linked to lack of technicians

At present, the state transport department is operating around 12,000 mofussil buses, including 8,000 town buses, in various cities excluding Chennai. However, passengers travelling in the state mofussil buses have a torrid time with the seats dangling, the window shutters stuck in one position and even the push-back seats not working properly, all attributed to the lack of technicians. 

Most of the drivers are nervous to take the buses which are unfit as they have to bear the brunt of the passengers’ anger. 

“We regularly register the complaints. But, when we prepare to start the bus on the next day, the complaints would not be fixed due to lack of technicians,” said an SETC driver on condition of anonymity. However, they would be compelled to take the buses. 

“Take the bus or get a memo” would be the terse reply from the officials, he added. A technician told DTNext that a bus can develop different kind of problems and one technician cannot attend to all the repair works. 

“For instance, if there is a brake failure, there must be a specialised technician to look at it. If all the buses need to undergo maintenance works properly, the officials should recruit technicians in accordance with the number of buses they operate,” he added. 

As per the transport department manuals, there should be 125 technicians for 100 state mofussil buses (1.25 technician per bus). However, the present data revealed that there are only 65 technicians to take care of 100 buses (0.65 technician per bus) This shortage is largely responsible for the poor condition and shoddy maintenance of mofussil busses. 

A Soundararajan, president, Tamil Nadu State Transport Employees Federation, says technicians play a vital role in carrying our repairing works. “Every bus should undergo daily, preventive, weekly and monthly maintenance works in accordance with the drivers’ complaints. 

However, the officials concerned have failed to recruit technicians and they are only focused on revenue,” he said and added that lack of technicians would pave the way for more accidents on highways. When DTNext contacted, a senior SETC official said, “We recruit technicians every year and will recruit more number of them soon.”