Editor,
It is a matter of great sadness and humiliation that a respectable headman should be manhandled by a driver and conductor of a government bus. Mr Bruce Sawkmie is a senior citizen who retired as an officer of the MIDC office. Many city drivers of Shillong are rash and haughty. They seem to own the road and vehicle. The money they collect is more theirs rather than that of the government’s or private employers’. Months ago I commuted in a shared taxi to Nongrim Hills (shared taxis in Shillong are not according to definition of the Motor Vehicle Act). A lady with two girls disembarked at Bethany hospital leaving me the sole commuter. The driver politely asked me to get down, for to most taxi drivers of Shillong the taxi is not a public service vehicle except at the time of availing a P.S.V D/L. Since I was in a hurry I offered to pay him Rs 20 instead of the usual Rs 10 but to no avail. I got off with the intention of filling a complaint to DTO Shillong, simultaneously marking the registration no of the taxi. To the driver money is more important than public service.
Over a year ago, as advertised by MUDA I bought a tiny booklet of tickets of Rs 100. I could use about three/fourths of the tickets, much to the chagrin of the conductors. It was obvious that I was the only passenger to offer a pre- paid ticket depriving them of hot cash. I could not continue for long. Next time, before getting down at Fire Brigade Point, my ticket was refused by both the conductor and the driver. I destroyed the ticket, did not pay money and stepped out wisely, for I could face a similar situation like Mr. Bruce.
Now, the real and legal operators are the motor owners and permit holders. The drivers and conductors are paid workers. The government can talk about their decent wages but they are not supposed to withhold even a rupee from their masters. On the other hand the vehicle owner cannot wash his hands off by saying that the vehicle was driven by the driver and therefore he is not responsible for anything that happens, for without his permission or knowledge the driver cannot touch the vehicle. While government authority may punish drivers and conductors, the owner is responsible for what the driver does according to law. Sometimes this is difficult but it cannot be avoided. The government authority had earlier outsourced the management of government buses to MTC. But experience alone may not suffice. Honesty and sincerity of conductors etc at the ground level is even more important.
Recently, I noticed a very young man on the driver’s seat of a government bus. By his looks he is about 20 years old. According to the rules the boy is not entitled to drive a heavy vehicle, more so a public service vehicle. There are some formalities such as age, steps to go through like First Aid knowledge etc., but sad to say that the State has not been able to produce its own rules even after 28 years since the MV Act, 1988 was passed. Uniforms are generally not welcome by the lower class office workers or drivers who sometimes manipulate to extract monetary benefits even from uniforms. There was a short lived tradition in which drivers and conductors were taught by the DTO once in a while on how to behave with ladies, seniors citizens and tourists. Many conductors don’t come ready with change but try to pocket a Rs 10 coin on the plea that he has no change.
The DTO Shillong had since 2014 told the media that a Maruti 800 taxi can carry only five persons in all including the driver; i.e. according to the registration and manufacture of the vehicle; i. e. two persons in the front seat including the driver and three passengers behind. Only the three passengers in the back seat can understand the inconvenience when every taxi driver tries to push four people instead. Sometimes the driver pushes two passengers in the front seat.
People have to bear the inconvenience and embarrassment while travelling by Shillong city taxis to reach their work places etc. It is time to provide minimum dignity to taxi commuters.
Yours etc.,
P.K. Lakiang
Shillong-3
Pedestrians at receiving end
Editor,
Through your esteemed daily I wish to draw the attention of the S.P (Traffic) East Khasi Hills to a grievous problem that is faced by the pedestrians who are using the road that leads from the BSNL Quarters (Oakland) to the Polo market. One has to come to this road at 10.00 am and 3 pm to see the danger that is looming large over pedestrians. One never knows but it may even be the reason for the loss of a few precious lives, God forbid. With the newly constructed road from Police Bazar (near City Hut Dhaba) to Polo, the traffic jam has turned worse. The road is so narrow, yet there are sometimes three rows of cars trying to reach their destination on time thereby leaving hardly any space for pedestrians. On behalf of all the pedestrians, I request the authorities concerned to urgently construct a footpath along this path and also post a traffic police at the juncture.
Yours etc.,
Shyamali Deb,
Shillong-1