<p>In an attempt to reduce operating costs, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) will soon adopt a two-tier system of administration. The move, which will do away with five divisional control offices, would save the BMTC roughly about Rs 1.5 crore and cut down a little more than 400 employees in the long run. <br /><br /></p>.<p>A senor BMTC official told DH that BMTC too adopted a three-tier system of administration in 2010 on the lines of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). “Since our operations are limited to the city, we do not need a three-tier system unlike the KSRTC which operates throughout the state. The introduction of Intelligent Transport System (ITS) too has helped us directly monitor ground level operations without a need for divisional controllers,” he explained. <br /><br />“There are five divisional offices, which operate from North, East, West, South and Central parts of the city. Each office comprises about 23 different posts including divisional traffic officer and divisional mechanical engineer. They supervise the functioning of 43 depots. Soon, the divisional office will be scrapped making the depot managers directly accountable to the head office,” the official said and added that the corporation, which has a fleet of more than 6,400 buses, employs around 13,000 employees.<br /><br />Meanwhile, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy confirmed that the board already approved the proposal to do away with the existing three-tier system and the final decision will be out in few days. <br /><br />“It was a two-year long demand and change is going to help the corporation in reducing the cost of operations. There are about 400 employees in all these five divisions and the corporation was spending Rs 1.5 crore a month on them besides providing cars and other benefits to the employees. There was also mismanagement of resources,” the minister<br />said. <br /><br />BMTC managing director Dr Ekroop Caur said the corporation is processing secretariat work related to changes in delegation of power and the final decision would be ready in few weeks. “We may not see immediate reduction in operating cost but the move will surely help the corporation in the longer run. We would shift employees from the divisional offices to other departments and freeze new recruitments,” she noted. <br /><br />‘Thanks to ITS’<br /><br />The official said the two-tier system is workable thanks to the Intelligent Transport System (ITS) project which comprises vehicle tracking system, Electronic Ticketing System (ETM) and Passenger Information System. “All our buses are fitted with GPS that enables real-time tracking and monitoring of buses including voice communication between the bus and the control centre. This will increase operational efficiency and there is no need of ‘middlemen’ to supervise the work,” he mentioned. <br /><br />3-tier structure<br /><br />Head office<br />Divisional Controller <br />Depot managers <br /></p>
<p>In an attempt to reduce operating costs, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) will soon adopt a two-tier system of administration. The move, which will do away with five divisional control offices, would save the BMTC roughly about Rs 1.5 crore and cut down a little more than 400 employees in the long run. <br /><br /></p>.<p>A senor BMTC official told DH that BMTC too adopted a three-tier system of administration in 2010 on the lines of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). “Since our operations are limited to the city, we do not need a three-tier system unlike the KSRTC which operates throughout the state. The introduction of Intelligent Transport System (ITS) too has helped us directly monitor ground level operations without a need for divisional controllers,” he explained. <br /><br />“There are five divisional offices, which operate from North, East, West, South and Central parts of the city. Each office comprises about 23 different posts including divisional traffic officer and divisional mechanical engineer. They supervise the functioning of 43 depots. Soon, the divisional office will be scrapped making the depot managers directly accountable to the head office,” the official said and added that the corporation, which has a fleet of more than 6,400 buses, employs around 13,000 employees.<br /><br />Meanwhile, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy confirmed that the board already approved the proposal to do away with the existing three-tier system and the final decision will be out in few days. <br /><br />“It was a two-year long demand and change is going to help the corporation in reducing the cost of operations. There are about 400 employees in all these five divisions and the corporation was spending Rs 1.5 crore a month on them besides providing cars and other benefits to the employees. There was also mismanagement of resources,” the minister<br />said. <br /><br />BMTC managing director Dr Ekroop Caur said the corporation is processing secretariat work related to changes in delegation of power and the final decision would be ready in few weeks. “We may not see immediate reduction in operating cost but the move will surely help the corporation in the longer run. We would shift employees from the divisional offices to other departments and freeze new recruitments,” she noted. <br /><br />‘Thanks to ITS’<br /><br />The official said the two-tier system is workable thanks to the Intelligent Transport System (ITS) project which comprises vehicle tracking system, Electronic Ticketing System (ETM) and Passenger Information System. “All our buses are fitted with GPS that enables real-time tracking and monitoring of buses including voice communication between the bus and the control centre. This will increase operational efficiency and there is no need of ‘middlemen’ to supervise the work,” he mentioned. <br /><br />3-tier structure<br /><br />Head office<br />Divisional Controller <br />Depot managers <br /></p>
