Staff Shortage: KSRTC to hire pvt agency to supply 350 drivers

Apart from the shortage of staff, KSRTC also faces the problem of employees increasingly preferring to transfer out of duty stations

In a major shift in policy, the KSRTC has begun the process to outsource driver jobs by engaging an agency to supply 350 drivers at a total cost of Rs 10 crore.

Apart from the shortage of staff, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) also faces the problem of employees increasingly preferring to transfer out of duty stations like Mangaluru, Puttur and Chamarajanagar divisions.

A senior official said the arrangement, the first of its kind, was aimed at fulfilling the requirements at divisions which are facing shortage of staff. The successful bidder will provide 150 drivers for Mangaluru, 100 for Puttur, 50 for Ramanagar and 50 for Chamarajanagar divisions.

"Considering our financial condition, we won't get clearance from the government to recruit drivers. Existing employees do not want to work in places like Mangaluru and Puttur. On the other hand, we need at least 1,000 additional drivers to provide transport services as per the travel demand. Through this tender, we will test the viability of getting drivers on contract," a senior official told DH.

With this move, the KSRTC hopes to cut salary expenditure. The corporation will pay a consolidated amount of Rs 23,000 as remuneration per driver for minimum 25 days of attendance per month. If a driver's services are not utilised for 25 days, then the pay will be fixed at Rs 100 per hour of steering and other incentives. The drivers will not get any allowance given to the regular employees.

To a question on safety, another official said necessary conditions, including penalty, will be in place to ensure that such drivers perform work at their best behaviour. The agency will be held responsible for drivers' misconduct like theft or fraud.

As per the tender conditions, a private agency which quotes the lowest amount of commission will be given the contract. The KSRTC's move comes days after the BMTC began studying routes to remove conductors from buses which do not have crowds and redeploy them to provide services to make up for the shortage of staffers.

KSRTC Staff and Workers Federation's H V Ananta Subbarao said the move was the first step towards privatisation. "This is a clear step towards privatisation and a big blow to the idea of public transport. A driver's job is highly skilled and involves a lot of risks. How can we expect them to work for just Rs 25,000? Moreover, a private worker will never be as committed as the KSRTC employee," he said.