Lack of competent officials major hurdle
A centralized administration with significant trade union intervention, leadership vacuum in critical positions, and lack of competent officials continue to plague the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), which is facing one of the Worst financial crisis in its 76 years.
The revival package being implemented to keep the corporation afloat should be supplemented by addressing the human resource issues and striving for increased professionalism, official “sources told The Hindu.
Leadership vacuum
The leadership ‘vacuum’ at critical positions in the transport utility, which has 41,000 personnel, including 7,000 empanelled staff, on the rolls, is a stumbling block to introducing reforms. Lack of qualified officials is a major issue. Of the executive directors, two are not graduates, and one has passed only SSLC.
The executive director in charge of the key operations Wing is a class 10 pass, while
the executive directors of technical and maintenance Works Wings are just graduates.
The post of executive director in charge of administration was held by a person who had just passed SSLC six months ago. ‘After the court cases on posting MBA degree holders were settled, a KSRTC employee With an MBA has been posted as executive director and put in charge of the ad ministration.
The District Transport Officer and Assistant Transport Officer heading the 92 depots across the State lack administrative experience. Many of them have been directly promoted from the cadre of inspectors whose job profile does not include administration.
These inspectors are asked to take care of the depots, the fulcrum of the bus operations of the utility. The corporation is yet to set up a Well-organised training division to train personnel to meet challenges and a research Wing to pursue innovations in fleet operations.
There is no proper employee grievance handling mechanism in the corporation. The KSRTC, which has an annual income of Rs.1,700 crore and expenses of Rs.2,700 crore, does” not have a chartered accountant. The personnel in the accounts Wing do not have proper qualifications either. Many on the rolls are graduates and learnt accounting after joining the
corporation.
Other hurdles
A highly centralised administration with high levels of trade union intervention and partisan attitude of the employees are the other hurdles. The 24-hour strike on March 1 that resulted in loss of revenue to the transport utility for three days was the result of the stubborn attitude of the trade unions, the sources said.
Despite the financial crisis, the management mobilised funds and paid salary and pension arrears to avoid the agitation. But the employees still Went on stir, causing inconvenience to commuters.
The number of crew per bus is high in the KSRTC as compared to that in other transport undertakings in the country. The figure is about 7.8 in the KSRTC, and the management has proposed in the revival plan to bring it down to 6.5 to overcome the crisis and break even. The revival package has mooted the creation of the post of chartered accountant, automobile engineer, and IT expert on contract basis.
Source The Hindu
