This Pune fuel station makes a ‘silent shift’ to giving equal opportunity

The post-lunch shift of the outlet is operated by specially-abled staff members who cater to the customers through sign language. From technician to air gauge operator, each staff member is well-trained and performs duties with utmost sincerity. And the most striking element is that the staff of the silent shift gets the same pay as their counterparts in normal shifts.

Vijay Algade, a staff member of the silent shift, signals a customer to get down from the bike for him to refill the fuel. The customer who is used to refilling while being seated on the bike, does not understand his sign. Algade, with a smile on his face, points to the board that makes it clear that it is mandatory to get off the bike while refilling for safety reasons. The customer complies.

“I like working here. This is a great opportunity for me and I had never anticipated that I will be able to work in such a field,” Algade conveys to The Indian Express through a senior manager who acts as the sign-language interpreter.

The manager, as well as other members of the staff, is trained in sign language.

Every day at 2.30 pm the employees are briefed and trained via demo videos preparing them for the day’s work and any emergency. “We brief the staff daily and once told them they perform very well. They are extremely punctual and work even better than the regular shift members,” says Sudhanchal P, manager of the outlet.

For the smooth functioning of the system, the workers are given an order-taking board in which the customers can note down the quantity of fuel as required. Each staff member is given a whistle. In case a customer is unable to understand or communicate, the staff member blows the whistle once to signal the manager to give assistance. In case of emergency, the staff is instructed to blow the whistle thrice.

“The first two or three months were difficult. There were errors, which anyone can make. Now 80 per cent of the time we do not have any problem with customers. If at all, there is a problem, the whistle alerts us,” says Sudhanchal.

Customers are all in praise for the initiative. “The service during the silent shift is excellent. The sign language can sometimes be difficult to understand but there are other staff members to help,” says a regular customer of the outlet.

At present, the outlet has 12 differently-abled staff members. The seniormost among them are Kiran and Vijay.

“They started off as air gauge operators in 2020 but wanted to work like everyone and wanted to take more responsibility. We started to train them in different areas and saw them grow. We adjusted according to them and groomed ourselves to work with them.” says Biswa Bhushan Majhi, retailer of the outlet. At present, Kiran is a technician and Vijay looks after the four-wheeler filling area.

The women’s silent shift is scheduled in the morning hours while the men’s starts in the evening.

Khokan M, a staff member on the normal shift, says they have also learned sign language. “With practice and over the course of time we have developed an understanding. We never face an issue in communicating or working together,” he adds. As the number of specially-abled members grew, the retailer, manager, and supervisor managed to learn sign language. A once-a-month training session is conducted wherein the professionals are called to give teaching sessions.

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There are signboards that instruct the customers about the dos and don’ts at the outlet. “There are no issues. They treat us respectfully and the work is the same as any other shift. It is appreciable how hardworking they are. They should be given more and equal opportunities,” Chitrali Pujari, a customer who visits the outlet twice a week, remarks.