‘Follow violation data for hiring pvt bus drivers’
Times of India | 7 January 2025
123 Kolkata: The Kolkata Police will prepare a detailed data sheet on traffic violations committed by each bus driver. It has proposed that the bus owners and unions consult their integrated traffic violation data, along with criminal antecedent checks, while recruiting private bus drivers.
In a discussion with various bus unions on Tuesday, DC (traffic) Yeilwad Shrikant Jagannathrao also asked the unions to form a team that can check that all staff going on duty in the morning are sober and physically fit. Shrikant showed a video that demonstrated how a bus driver, early on Monday morning, took the seat despite being in an inebriated condition. This team, stated cops, can also study the basic mechanical condition when the bus leaves the stand.
The police also proposed periodic training for bus drivers at their training schools. The bus owners, however, said cops must assure drivers that this will pay dividends as they are joining training by forfeiting their daily income.
Shrikant also showed multiple videos where buses were seen offloading passengers in the middle of the road and forcing passengers to get off between two buses, and asked the conductors to take up more responsibility.
Bus owners said local transport unions controlled the allocation of drivers and stated that they were often in the dark about who was driving the bus they own. On their part, the owners pointed to the roads getting constricted due to illegal parking and hawkers occupying the footpaths, forcing people to walk on the road.
Cops and owners both agreed that jaywalking was a major challenge. "The movement from Shyambazar to Dorina is the most challenging as it has 42 cuts. Even as we try to plug the gaps, we will require the bus drivers to stick to the left lane," said an officer.
Cops denied that there was excessive challan only on buses, stating not more than 3% of all buses running on the road are prosecuted daily in the city.