Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

Tough times for RTC's temporary staff

K.N. Murali Sankar

VIJAYAWADA: With his unkempt beard and robust physique, Srinivasa Rao presented a grouchy look standing six-foot tall in front of an APSRTC bus. Hearts of passengers scurrying towards the bus might have surely missed a beat or two by the very sight of this brusque personality. His call -- "Eluru... Eluru... Eluru... " in a vapid drone was, however, not really abhorrent. He kept convincing the passengers to board the bus he was asked to drive four times a day between the city and Eluru.

Hopes kindled

Behind the humongous built of body, there is a supple soul to narrate an interesting story. Rao hoped to make it to regular payrolls of the RTC. Till he was married recently, this 30-year-old drove goods carriages (lorries) from Eluru to Assam, Bihar and Bengal. He took almost 20 days to a month to return home after each trip.

Not surprisingly, trouble began on the home front.

He decided to begin life afresh. Driving heavy vehicles is the only skill he knows. He had served the RTC during the earlier strike as a driver. He appeared for an interview for the regular job of a driver in the corporation. Though he cleared the interview, the selection was kept in abeyance for want of a vacancy. This time around, he grew confident of securing a permanent appointment.

The RTC authorities wanted Rao and a temporary conductor to earn Rs.5,400 a day by operating non-stop service. After a couple of trips through the day, weariness did not take its toll on his body. But his mind found it arduous to meet the target. Asked as to how much could he collect after half-a-day, Rao blushed and said: "Not a satisfactory sum."

What had put him off the most? "People's apprehensions," he replied. An old man asked Rao what the latter did before taking up the temporary assignment. Rao's response that he drove lorries pushed septuagenarian into a doubt. Developing cold feet, the elderly man called off his bid to board the bus. Rao went into autosuggestion and said in soliloquy: "This is common. As the days pass by, people will grow confident."

Strange situation

Then, there was a khaki-clad petite woman struggling to convince the passengers to get into the bus. Her appeals in a gruff disappeared in the din. She encountered a strange situation while discharging her duty. Known for being a home guard in Eluru, she had a trying time in encouraging passengers to board the bus.

As she began collecting the fare, passengers wanted a ticket in return. As the RTC authorities decided not to issue tickets during the strike period, she was not provided with a ticket-issuing machine.

She had to cut a sorry figure before explaining her predicament to the passengers. Impudent passengers asked her to "go and do the police duty." But impatience never got better of her.

She took the comments in her stride and went ahead with the task given to her. After half-an-hour, the twosome zoomed past the Pandit Nehru Bus Station racing their bus on the slimy National Highway, drenched in the daylong rain, towards Eluru.

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