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Bus Day Fever - Petroleum Ministry to observe every Wednesday as 'Bus Day'

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Bus

Who had thought that one day 'Bus Day' observance will go places. Though in Bangalore it has relegated to a monthly ritual, since Feb 2010, it has been tried in many cities including Chennai, Cochin etc. Now if news report is to believed, Starting October 9th , Petroleum & Natural Gas Ministry has decided to observe every Wednesday as the 'Bus Day' as part of its austerity measure.

Under pressure from public to lead by example, the Petroleum Minister Shri. Veerappa Moily has promised to take the public transport for his commute to his office every Wednesday.

Source  - NDTV

...Leading by example, Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily today said he will travel by public transport every Wednesday, starting October 9, as part of the fuel conservation drive to save $5 billion in oil import bill. Mr Moily said he and all officials in his ministry as well as in oil PSUs will travel by public transport every Wednesday.

"I had Chief Ministers, central ministries and PSU heads to declare one day of the week as 'bus day' during which staffers be encouraged to utilize only public transport for their daily commute. As part of it, I will either take metro or a bus to work every Wednesday starting from October 9," he said.

A circular is also being issued for asking officers in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas as well as 14 public sector firms under the ministry like ONGC and IOC to take public transport every Wednesday.

It's a voluntary act. I cannot punish anyone not taking the public transport but I want everyone from the highest ranking officers to the lowest, to take public transport every Wednesday," he said.

Little Background

In late 2009, during the 1st Mobilicity event, our dear friend Manjari had proposed Bus Day concept to BMTC. It took about 3-4 months of intense campaigning with the BMTC to convince and finally it was launched in Feb 2010. Though the initial idea was to push BMTC to improve their coverage so that public is encouraged to switch over to Public Transport. Though BMTC received a very good response to the monthly Bus Day observance, it also received tons of feedback primarily highlighting the BMTC's "Lopsided Connectivity". In some areas it is over served and some it under serves, the areas which needs badly. Though BMTC claims that it has improved, there has been no study on this claim. In absence of any data it is not befitting to comment one way or the other way on improvements by BMTC. Now the Bus Day has relegated to a monthly ritual.

Weblink for Bus Day Observance in Bengaluru

Praja members played a very vital role in convincing BMTC to start the Bus Day concept. For many months it provided BMTC with loads of feedback. The website feedback that Praja members provided had the impact and I can say with certainty that today's redesigned BMTC Website is the result of Praja's feedback.

Weblink for Feedback to BMTC

The engagement didn't ended there. Many of us continued the dialog with BMTC for more than year and we still do so. Our friend Pranav had even engaged with BMTC for months to upgrade their back-end IT systems and applications.

Last but not the least, Bus Day Credits certainly goes to Manjari, Sathya, Srivatsa, Bharat, Suresh, Srinidhi, Ritesh, Murali Sir, VVR, Pranav, Narayanan, Jenny and many more who had put lot of efforts to make it a grand success on its first launch in Feb 2010.

Moral of the story is good intended efforts don't go waste. These initiatives really help boost my moral as well as of many others. Looking forward to one day to read in these news headlines about the flagging of 1st Suburban Train. Amen !

 

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kbsyed61's picture

Moily Walks the Talk, go to work in Delhi Metro!

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Source - Hindustan Times

Leading by example, oil minister M Veerappa Moily on Wednesday took the metro to office as part of his drive to promote fuel conservation and help cut India's massive oil import bill.

Moily walked from his residence at 3, Tughlak Lane, to the Race Course Metro Station, where he boarded a Yellow Line train and alighted two stops later at the Central Secretariat station, a short walk from Shastri Bhawan, the seat of the oil ministry.

What is interesting is many of his department employees came to office on Bicycles.

Joint Secretaries Neeraj Mittal and Aramane Giridhar rode bicycles for 8km to office. His PS Sanjeev Kumar took a separate metro to office.

Good going minister, unlike BMTC please do not relegate to a ritual. Rather put some efforts and encouraged employees to switch over to PT. Let this be a daily affair. Incentivise for switching to PT system.

xs400's picture

I can smell Booogus

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When I see CEOs/Real-Estate Barons/Industrialists/..../ abandon their SUVs and take public transport, I 'll believe in public transport too! Till then moily, I guess this is part of your job!

srinidhi's picture

he troubled other patrons..

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For one person to travel..there will be umpteen number of officials/security travelling..unlike what UK PM did sometime ago..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueI2N9fzRyU

we are a very populous country and such behaviour should also be managed differently..something like the minister travelling in the off peak hours..on an additional bogie if possible etc

It can never be at the behest of troubling regulars..

Sanjeev's picture

Let this minister Travell from Chikballapur to Bangaloreby Train

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Does this Minister knows how public of Chikballapur struggel to reach Bangalore by Private Buses,  KSRTC Buses by paying hefty amount and even using their personal vechiles.

He represents the Chikballapur area, but this place is  connected by just two trains a day to Bangalore and on Sunday this service is having holiday.

He should travell by these so called two trains and himself experience the same.  People of Chikballapur can save lot of fuel  if gets the Subruban Rail connectivity.

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