Just Walking Around

Gaon Tithe ST … Hath Dakhwa Bus Thambwa…(Where Theres a Village there’s an ST …. To Stop Bus Just Wave)

With the Ganesh Chaturthi fast approaching the natives from Konkan called “Chakar mane” or the Blue collared workers earlier working in Mumbai Textile Mills and now in Service sectors of Couirer, Transport (Drivers) and Food Service (Swiggy , Zomato , Uber Eats) will get ready to go back to their villages in the Mangaon ,Dapoli, Khed , Furoos ,Chiplun and upto Ratnagiri some even going till Sawantwadi / Shiroda to celebrate the Ganesh festival for 10 days . Before the Konkan Railway was established on the West Coast and even today all these people along with there families and extended family members would make dash to Mumbai Central ST Bus depot to catch the red coloured ST bus . These ST buses are called “Lal Dabba” in the local slang and literally they are like boxes made of steel painted the trademark Red and with the yellow MSRTC log on the sides. The insides of these have around 45-54 uncomfortable barely cushioned bench type seats with typical dark green regzine covers and with windows which mostly don’t open due wrong design or non-maintenance. The bus when it leaves during this festive season is filled to full capacity with additional people standing in the gangway. The luggages of the travellers are loaded on top of bus fixed with strong ropes.

But these ST buses are the only mode of transport for villagers residing in very remote places to reach their home. Theres a common saying in Maharshtra Gaon Thithe ST , which literally means “Where there is a village there a ST buses which services  it”. Another common phrase is Haath Dakhwa Bus Thambwa which means just wave your hand at any given notified ST Bus stand or even at large signals at prominent junctions and the driver of the ST bus will oblige you with a pick up so you can reach your village safe and sound.

Going back in history The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation was established by the State Government of Maharashtra as per the provision in Section 3 of RTC Act 1950. But the first bus was flagged off from Pune to Ahmednagar in 1948.

Tracing the history that saw this development, we go back to the 1920s; when various entrepreneurs started operations in the public transport sector. Till the Motor Vehicle Act came into being in 1939, there were no regulations monitoring their activities which resulted in arbitrary competition and unregulated fares. The implementation of the Act rectified matters to some extent. The individual operators were asked to form a union on defined routes in a particular area. This also proved to be beneficial for travelers as some sort of schedule set in; with a time table, designated pick-up points, conductors, and fixed ticket prices. This was the state of affairs till 1948, when the then Bombay State Government, with the late Morarji Desai as the home minister, started its own state road transport service, called State Transport Bombay. And, with this, the first blue and silver-topped bus took off from Pune to Ahmednagar

There were 10 makes of buses in use then – Chevrolet , Ford , Bedford, Seddon, Studebaker, Morris Commercial , Albion , Leyland , Commer and Fiat. In the early 1950’s two luxury buses were introduced based on Morris Commercial Chasis. These were called “Neelkamal”  and “Giriyarohini” and used to ferry passengers on the Pune-Mahabaleshwar route. They had 2-2 seats, curtains, interior decoration , a clock and green tinted windows. A little upscale as compared t the “Lal Dabba”. 

The interior was little spacious with good leg room and seats where sofa cushioned. Some buses had seats with a stick at the side to make the seat recline a bit. Also the concept of hand rest were introduced to divide the passenger seating area so that passengers avoid fighting in slang Marathi “Are tujya baapachi seat aahe kay. Ticket gehtle manje purna bus vikat ghetli ki kay “…over seat space. A classic case of over demand and under supply.

The condition of the ST Personnel especially the drivers is not good. Just imagine how stressful is the condition of these drivers who have to ply over 70 million passengers every day in the 1,50,000 buses operated under the MSRTC Road Transport Undertaking. From the well laid to those replete with potholes, from the ever bumpy, undulating, and broken to just a dirt track, is what makes up the massive 55 lakh km-long road network of the state.And a safe long-distance journey under most of these circumstances needs expert maneuvering skills and an undisturbed mind for thousands of drivers that traverse these roadways.

Providing efficient, economic, safe and reliable public transport in urban, hilly and rural areas is by no means an easy task. It becomes all the more challenging when you see most staff still clamoring for adequate compensation, benefits, good working conditions and even some respect. After all, they are responsible for helping millions of passengers reach their destinations safely despite battling a hostile terrain in many parts, undertaken under harsh working conditions.

Moreover, a large number of drivers in the ST who are not on the governments’ payrolls or are out of the regulatory net earn one-tenth of what their counterparts working in the Private road transport units earn.

The complaints from drivers who are not getting sufficient benefits are intensifying as even State transport corporations are increasingly opting to put their bus services on contract. Officials in the corporations admit in private that there are also cases of buses that operate under State carriage permits where the drivers are not paid as per the mandated rules. Besides inadequate and disparate payments, drivers often face difficult working hours and a tough working environment. This can lead to fatigue and accidents. There were 37,487 bus accidents that resulted in 12,088 deaths and 50,686 injuries in 2016, according to Road Ministry data.

Leading transport experts say Drivers should be given resting places every 400 km, so that they can sleep, freshen up and have nutritious meals at reasonable rates. There should be medical benefits, with at least ₹20 lakh compensation on accidental death.

Lawmakers, it seems, have taken note of this issue. Stressing the need to improve drivers’ working conditions, a recent Parliamentary Committee deliberating on amending the Motor Vehicle Act has recommended that action be taken to alleviate drivers’ stress arising due to climatic factors and long working hours. Responding to the suggestion, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways informed the Committee that setting up of stop-over points along highways for the drivers is being considered. While these steps from the Government will require time and resources, for the passengers to give a little respect to the ‘captain of the bus’ can come free and with immediate effect.

Drivers often crave that respect from their passengers. “In Sweden, bus drivers are called ‘Ambassadors’. Why can’t we do the same in India? If flights can have pilots, ships can have captains, don’t the bus drivers require some recognition and respect?

So next time you are ridiculing the ST service and bad mouthing the arrogant attitude of their drivers, please stop , think of all those times when you used the ST and reached your destination in the remotes part of Maharashtra safely and was able to enjoy the festive season with your extended family and had a gala time for a few days of your other wise stressful life and then compare it with the plight of these ST drivers. Give due respect to them and also patronize the ST Service whenever possible so that this great service does not disappear from the face of the earth.