Illustration: Soumyadip Sinha
CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) recently started soft-skill training classes for its conductors and drivers on how to behave politely with passengers. But, passengers say it is Chennai’s MTC staff who need such training. The experience of scores of commuters tells us that people of all ages are treated without respect by MTC bus conductors. Their harsh behaviour towards passengers is perhaps the worst among cities in the state.
A month ago, in M45 bus near Velachery, when an elderly couple was taking time to get down, the conductor said ‘Who will look after them in this old age if they are like this’. This was unnecessary. I don’t know what makes conductors pass such hurtful comments,” said Rochana BKN, a regular commuter. Most conductors use disrespectful singular terms like ‘Va’ (come), ‘Po’ (go) to address passengers irrespective of their age, which irritates many said Hemalatha V, another regular commuter. “‘Ulla Thalli Po’ (Go inside), ‘Seekarama Erangu’ (Get down quickly) ‘Arivu Illaya?’(Don’t you have any sense?). These are common terms used by most bus conductors.
Even women and elderly aren’t spared,” she said. Verbal arguments break over issues like lack of change, footboard travel, and stoppage of bus especially on crowded bus routes. “In the G18 bus route, for a `27 ticket when I give `50, I never get the correct change. Most passengers don’t mind not getting the change back when it’s a small amount. But, the kind of abusive language conductors use bothers us the most,” said R Ramakrishnan, another commuter. School students and the elderly face the brunt of this problem to a large extent as they rarely retaliate, said another regular passenger Kavin Raja.
“Once, when I was in class 11, I forgot to carry my student bus pass. Even before I could get money from my pocket to get a ticket, the conductor pushed me on the road from the steps. As school children are scared to argue, they become easy targets,” he said. Due to lack of buses, most of them are overcrowded which leads to footboard commute and an overall inconvenience. “Buses never start on time from the depot. In addition to this, they halt the bus between stops and collect tickets. Conductors hardly move from their seats and because of this they have no idea who has bought a ticket and who hasn’t,” said Sharon Christopher, who travels to Chetpet from Villivakkam by 47A.
On the other hand, conductors attribute this behaviour to pressure from their superiors and stress from their day-long jobs. “Respect is a two-way concept. Passengers too, address us very harshly and create a fuss when they don’t get their change back instantly. Every day we get `30-`50 in coins from the depot. In that case, for a `7 ticket how will we have change for `100? For a hassle- free journey they should cooperate too,” said R Natrajan, conductor of bus no. 21.
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