Pune in dire need of bus drivers with road sense

The January 25 incident of MSRTC bus driver Santosh Mane’s deathly joyride still sends chills down our spines. But it seems the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) has learnt no lesson from it.

It has now been revealed that the quality of drivers recruited by the company is not up to the mark and is putting the lives of Puneites at risk.

The PMPML is now facing a double dilemma. They are either getting educated drivers with no road experience or those drivers who are less educated but are used to driving trucks carrying sand.

One of the officers from the PMPML said, “Basically, the problem is that the minimum education level for the drivers is standard VII. This minimal education doesn’t equip him with necessary manners and road sense.”

“These drivers will jump signals, will stop the bus away from the bus stop and will be arrogant with passengers or fellow commuters. This draws a bad picture of the company in public,” he said.

A former officer of the company said, “We don’t get good drivers. It is necessary that the authorities pay heed to this problem.”

However, PMPML’s public relations and labour officer, Deepaksinh Paradeshi, rubbished all the claims. He said, “Although most of the drivers are not educated, we do train them once they get through the interviews. We recruit drivers on contract for three years. Then they work on a daily basis and are absorbed in the company.”

“The problem is that we have to conduct the recruitment drive over and over again as once the drivers are trained and get a minimum experience, they leave us for some lucrative job.”