Chennai: This Sunday afternoon, on his usual trip from Chromepet to Kamarajapuram, MTC conductor Vijayakumar of S18 bus saw five people of different age groups board the bus. When he asked them to buy tickets for everybody aged above three, one of them later identified as a police personnel from Guindy not only refused to pay for her child but also slapped the conductor for asking a ‘cop’ to buy a ticket.
“Usually most passengers do not buy the ticket for their kids saying they are not yet three years old. We have got strict orders from the department that a memo would be issued if the passengers do not buy tickets. After the woman slapped me, she tried to flee but other passengers managed to stop her and we later approached the police station,” said Vijayakumar.
He further rued that despite stringent orders from the department to issue tickets to everybody, neither the police not MTC have responded properly to his complaint and in turn have asked him to ‘compromise’ with them. While the cop was not available for the comment, MTC officials remained vague and tagged it as an ‘inter-departmental tiff’.
Similarly, in another strange incident last week, a driver at Chromepet depot has been sleeping in workers' washroom, as the officials would not allow him to put the bed he bought in the restrooms allotted to sleep.
He told that the floor presents a dirty picture with spilt alcohol, food and stench. Repeated appeals regarding the poor state of restrooms have not reaped any benefits forcing him to take such decision, he said.
When contacted, an official from MTC said the conductors are given floor mats and provided with proper water facility. “Regarding alcohol bottles, we have been trying to fix it from a long time and efforts are on for a more stringent action.”
Members of different unions rue that the treatment of conductors and drivers is improper. K. Anbazhagan, joint secretary of Nethaji Transport Union said such incidents are becoming common lately and he urged the department to improve the safety and other basic facilities of MTC workers.
