BHUBANESWAR: The
Odisha State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) has started an inquiry following allegations by passengers of a Kolkata-bound night bus from Keonjhar district that the driver and the conductor forcing them to have dinner in a dhaba, where people were found consuming alcohol and were impolite. Though the incident took place on the outskirts of Keonjhar on March 23, the
OSRTC swung into action only last week.
“We are verifying the charges. A woman, who was travelling in the bus from Keonjhar to Kolkata, had sent an e-mail to the Odisha transport department, talking about the irresponsible attitude of the bus driver and conductor. Action will be taken against the bus staff if the charges against them are proved,” OSRTC’s deputy general manager (operations)
Sudhir Behera told TOI.
Around 24 passengers, including seven women, were travelling in the government bus that left Keonjhar for Kolkata around 10pm on March 23. After nearly an hour of travel, the bus halted near the dhaba. In her complaint, the woman alleged that she along with the other passengers were shocked to find that people were drunk and indulged in vulgar talks. “We felt it was a bar. I approached the driver and conductor and asked them to take us to another hotel. But they were reluctant and told us that there was no good hotel nearby,” she told TOI over phone from Kolkata.
She alleged that the bus driver and conductor did not help the women passengers find a washroom. “When I asked the people at the dhaba about the location of a toilet, they asked me to do it in the open along the national highway. I was shocked. How can the staff of a government bus be so irresponsible and put us to inconvenience,” she asked.
The officials of the transport department said OSRTC’s chairman-cum-managing director has been asked to ensure the safety of bus passengers. “We have asked OSRTC to sensitise its staff to the need to behave well with passengers. The OSRTC should also verify the antecedents of the drivers and conductors of all buses,” a transport official said.
The OSRTC operates 443 buses on different routes in Odisha. Of this, 42 vehicles are interstate buses. They travel to Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.