‘‘We have the Bill of Rights. What we need is a Bill of Responsibilities’’-Bill Maher
In spite of repeated appeals made to the public by the government to insist for tickets on board the Shillong Public Transport Service (SPTS) and Shillong Special Transport Services (SSTS) buses, the same is not religiously practiced by the commuters.
Notices regarding the same were pasted in three languages-Khasi, English and Garo– in every bus to ensure that there is no loss of revenue as a result of tickets not being issued to the public.
It may be mentioned that the SPTS, despite providing the much needed transport service to the city residents, has had its share of problems ranging from non-issuance of tickets to poor maintenance. Even though the situation has changed for the better as far as issuing of tickets is concerned, there is still room for improvement to ensure that not a rupee of public money is lost.
The duty to ensure transparency in the city’s transport services cannot be restricted to the bus conductors only and it is equally important that people are aware of their responsibilities, however small, which could benefit the state’s exchequer.
However, it has been noticed on numerous occasions that the passengers themselves shy away from collecting tickets. “It’s okay, I don’t need a ticket”, is a statement that reveals the lackadaisical attitude of the commuters, who, perhaps fail to realize the significance of asking for that ‘mini boarding card’.
Coming back to the people who should be responsible for issuing tickets, it has been observed that there are some conductors who would wait for a passenger pay the money and wait to see whether he/she asks for a ticket. If one does not ask for the ticket, the conductor would happily move on at times pretending that he is too busy collecting money. Under such circumstances, apprising the passengers of their right to ask for a ticket would be a bit too much to ask from the conductor.
This scribe noticed that a conductor of an SPTS bus travelling from Polo to IGP waited for the commuter to ask for a ticket instead of giving it to him beforehand. This proves that the passengers should be alert and stand up for what is rightfully theirs.
This of course is not the only face of a SPTS/SSTS bus conductor. There are many who perform their duties well but need the public’s cooperation to perform it to perfection. However, ignorance and indifferent attitude of the public only breeds corruption, however insignificant in nature, and hence should be dealt with firmly at the root.
The collective loss incurred by the government as a result of non-issuance of tickets in the SPTS buses might be comparatively insignificant. But nevertheless it is a loss worth doing away with.
Like author Richard Bach puts it, ‘If it’s never our fault, we can’t take responsibility for it. If we can’t take responsibility for it, we’ll always be its victim’.
So it is high time people stop complaining and wake up to their small responsibilities towards the betterment of the State.
(By Ibankyntiew Mawrie)