The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Staff shortage hits MTC operations

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jul 02, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Staff shortage hits MTC operations

Staff Reporter

Commuters waited for 2 hours as there was a tussle over granting leave

CHENNAI: A face-off between the management and crew of the Metropolitan Transport Corporation that led to problems for commuters on Wednesday last highlighted the level of absenteeism among staff.

Commuters waited for nearly two hours as services at Madhavaram depot were hit due to a tussle between the crew and management over granting of leave.

While the workers claimed that the branch manager marked a section of employees `absent' though they had applied for leave, senior officials said the problem cropped up at the end of every month.

M. Chandran, general secretary of Metro Transport Association, said the management had not been granting leave citing staff shortage.

"All depots have the same problem. The employees are marked absent and their salaries cut. That is why staff at Madhavaram depot protested though the management was instructed a couple of days ago to grant leave to genuine cases," he said.

A senior MTC official, who said the problem surfaced every month-end, explained that there was a restriction on taking leave. "Sometimes, in case of severe shortage we even ask them not to take their weekly off."

However, the official said that employees do not apply for leave in advance.

"They just abstain from work. During elections, the respective party union members went for campaigning. Now with the new government in place, workers belonging to the opposition party union are abstaining from work," said the official.

Officials say they are going easy on `absenteeism' during this transition period. "We are facing a severe staff shortage though we had recruited more drivers and conductors," said the official.

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