Kerala State Road Transport Corporation staff get grandma's tale in circular

Kochi: The KSRTC management has asked its staff to establish cordial relations with the commuters and shot off a new memorandum containing popular essayist A.G. Gardiner’s short piece ‘All about a dog’ to take home the point. This has come in the wake of the controversy over a ‘Minnal’ bus crew not allowing a girl to get down at a place at night. The KSRTC staff were surprised to get a ‘grandma tale’ in the form of a four-page circular issued on January 20 which conveys the message that rules are meant to be observed in the spirit but not in letter.

“The act by our crew during the January 13 incident is fully legitimate in the legal sense and we back them to the core. However, the whole issue could have been avoided if they had acted on a humane basis. Many unseen differences of opinions are bound to happen while travelling in public transport mode. Rules can’t address them all,” it says. “In his essay, writer A.G. Gardiner explains such a situation aptly and the piece is delightful to read,” said a senior officer.

The crew of Pala-Kasargod ‘Minnal’ service with limited stops had refused to stop the vehicle for a 17-year-old girl student to get down at Payyoli late in the night on January 13. The cops lodged a case against the crew for refusing to halt the bus ignoring their direction based on the request by the girl’s father.

“The story is about a conductor refusing to let a woman travel with her dog. He stops the bus and announces that the journey will resume only when the dog is brought out. This led to protest from other passengers. The message is that letting the dog travel with the woman can be allowed if the same was not causing any inconvenience to other passengers,” said a conductor on the new memorandum. The KSRTC had issued an order dated July 6, 2017 stating that ‘Minnal’ should be considered as a special service and that the vehicle should not be halted at any point other than the designated stops even during night.