Harassment', long hours of work driving KSRTC crew to suicide?

Harassment’, long hours of work driving KSRTC crew to suicide?

S. Rajendran

‘Working conditions have deteriorated after KSRTC was split’

Gaikwad

BANGALORE: The number of suicide cases involving employees of the four government bus corporations in the State over what has been alleged as harassment by their superiors and long hours of work, is on the rise.

The family of Vijaykumar (48), a senior driver of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), is in dire straits after he committed suicide on the premises of the Mangalore depot of the corporation in July. He had put in 18 years of service in the KSRTC.

“He was a bachelor and the sole breadwinner of the family. After his death, I and my two sisters have been left in the lurch. Even his Provident Fund and gratuity have not been settled since he had nominated his mother for the benefits. She too passed away soon after his death,” his brother Ganesh told The Hindu.

The KSRTC has refused to give any of the family members a job on compassionate grounds. The family lives in a small house at Kaniyoor in Belthangady taluk in Dakshina Kannada. No action has been taken against the divisional security inspector and a traffic inspector who had reportedly harassed and assaulted Vijaykumar on several occasions.

Conductor Chandrakantha of Shimoga was working in Gulbarga Division.

He drank poison while on duty and died unable to bear the alleged harassment by a traffic inspector. Gaikwad, senior driver of the Bijapur depot, committed suicide in the depot on February 16 by hanging.

In a suicide note, he stated that he was harassed by the depot manager. The authorities have not even questioned the manager concerned or any other officer.

Harishchandra, a caretaker at NWKRTC, committed suicide at the divisional workshop in Bijapur for similar reasons.

Several others, who had attempted suicide, have escaped death, thanks to medical intervention. On October 12, driver Athaulla attempted suicide in Kolar after he was “chased” by members of a checking squad of the KSRTC.

Driver Jagannatha of Kolar Division also attempted suicide in August. On October 23, M. Chandrappa, conductor, drank poison in the chamber of the Shimoga Depot manager and was rushed to hospital. Conductor Pavitra drank poison while on duty because of alleged harassment. She survived after medical intervention and is now facing a case of attempt to suicide.

Six drivers and conductors committed suicide in the past six years and 15 more attempted suicide. “It is a sad story of a government-run agency harassing its employees with an eye on making profit,” the KSRTC Staff and Workers’ Federation told The Hindu.

General Secretary of the federation H.V. Ananthasubba Rao said that working conditions had deteriorated after KSRTC was split.

“The strength of staff to bus ratio is one of the least in the KSRTC and the other three corporations. While it is 4.8 personnel for every government bus in the State, the ratio in Tamil Nadu is 6.5; it is 6.5 in Andhra Pradesh, Delhi Transport Corporation has 11, while BEST, Mumbai, has nine. Added to all this, there is no grievance settlement mechanism in such a mammoth corporation,” he said.

Managing Director of the KSRTC Gaurav Gupta said: “The government bus corporations maintain 40 per cent additional crew than really required to meet exigencies, including leave and weekly offs of employees. Suicides could always be for various reasons and will be looked into. We have an active labour welfare wing which is in touch with bus crew and conduct home visits and counselling wherever required. The bus-staff ratio here is reasonable.”