In a shocking incident, two BMTC bus drivers beat up a private bus driver and later crushed him under the wheels of the bus. Narrating the incident, a witness to the episode said that the trouble resulted from the two BMTC drivers, Srinivas and Govindappa, entering into a heated exchange with Shivanna (the victim), mistaking Shivanna for a private bus driver.
For the full story, click here.
Now, it is a celebrated fact that mafia's involving officials from the Transport Department, RTO, Traffic Police, and even the BMTC itself, are facilitating transgression by many of the contract-carriage licensees (who are part of the mafia) into the monopoly stage-carriage domain of the BMTC, and in the process make huge money for themselves. To the lay public and to the BMTC workers, however, they project the contract-carriage operators as the villains, accusing them of milking the BMTC of its revenue, this in turn leading to its inability to afford better wages and working conditions. To further this impression, they even go to the extent of filing mock petitions in courts demanding that BMTC and KSRTC be accorded total monopoly status throughout the state, over stage-carriage operations, since the private operators are eating into the revenues, which, as the government-owned operators, they alone have the sovereign right over.
This has led to the general antagonism prevailing between the BMTC/ KSRTC workers and the private bus operators, and is very likely the cause of this skirmish, rather than it being the result of any road rage, as reported.
The simple and effective answer is the dismantling of the license-permit raaj, and the opening up of the sector for competition from private players, all regulated by a duly constituted authority.
Muralidhar Rao
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Booked for murder
A case has been booked against the culprits for murder, as per the TOI report.
The culprit’s blatant high handed action suggests the absolute rot that has set in our law enforcing system. We call this kind of behavior as "Road rage" and tend to forget it! Though our country is making inroads in to the world economy we are still to go a long way with our internal problems. The need for solving internal aberrations and conflicts like these has never been so urgent.
Opening the transport sector for public players is beside the point.
Some big accusations there, careful
Whoops, you made some big accusations there:
We have heard this talk before, could very well be true. I will buy point #3, things are setup well for that type of corruption to prosper.
Can our mainstream media friends (DH, DC, Hindu, Express) do a little work to expose #1 and #2. Whats the extent of such underhand dealings? Who are the top 5 owners of such private buses and minibuses operating in the city - would it be too hard to find and list all names that have these official permits (contract-carriage license)?
With all due respect Murali sir, this particular incident sounds like road rage, or perhaps a case of settling personal scores. Thinking that all this corruption would be playing out at bus driver level is a little hard to believe. I would see this as traffic enforcement problem first, and anything else later. Why? Because such things (operators racing and being each other's enemies) would be more rampant if enforcement levels don't improve.
Mr Ananthram - road rage is here and its going to get worse unless our Traffic Police wakes up from its slumber - their bar is just too low. There are tons of hurdles and excuses to not initiate some deep driving reforms in the way our roads are policed, but it can be done.
Murali, I almost got crashed into by two private bus operators in Mangalore this weekend (Both running route #s 44A on NH17 towards Ullal), and I had a hard time controlling my rage. The way some of the private buses were driving there, I think the driver behavior is much better here with just sarkaari buses plying on the roads.
On what count the drivers have been booked?
We are into a new story about shooting of a youth of 19 years by the guards on duty at the official residence of Brigadier PS Ravindranath. TOI gives front page cover for this kind of story “Shooting Questions” and also “Mom: Why did they shoot him?” .
While TOI maintains its number uno position in its circulation, it is "Praja" who is taken for a ride.