The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Recalcitrant automen

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Sep 24, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Recalcitrant automen

The bold and correct statement of INTUC President Mr. P.L. Subbian (The Hindu, Sept. 7) on the auto fare in Coimbatore has prompted me to give vent to my feelings on the issue as one of the “fleeced and tortured public”.

When I read about the decision to fix Rs.14 as the minimum fare, as in Chennai, I could not but laugh because I was sure that the attempt to discipline the recalcitrant automen would be futile.

This is precisely what has happened. And this time their resistance was by creating ‘a martyr’ and they succeeded in getting the decision revoked.

While in Kerala and Karnataka automen have accepted the fare fixed by the government, in Tamil Nadu the drivers themselves decide the fare and fleece passengers. There is a fare structure for any public transport system and autos being a public utility service cannot be an exception to this.

If the auto drivers change their attitude and become more friendly with people, more and more passengers will utilise their service and this will definitely fetch them more income. I feel counselling will help them change their attitude.

It is high time the automen reconciled to the ground realities and undertstood the feelings of the public.

E. Raghunathan,

Ramanathapuram.

Unfair fare

I went to Thirunallar pilgrimage centre near Karaikal recently. I took a State Transport Corporation bus (TN 49N 1291 of Kumbakonam division) from Karaikal at 3.30 p.m. The bus proceeded to Kumbakonam and when it crossed the town limit the conductor said it was a special bus and every passenger should pay Rs. 26 instead of the normal fare of Rs. 17.

The bus did not have the features of a special bus. Some passengers paid Rs. 26 under protest but a few poor people refused to pay the enhanced fare. Then the conductor asked them to alight from the bus.

When the passengers refused to do so, the bus was taken to Ambagarathur police station where they were told that if it was a special bus the enhance fare should be paid.

A call was made from the police station to the Corporation General Manager. An official in the general manager’s office said special buses would collect extra fare.

But it was beyond poor people to pay Rs. 9 extra and that too when there was nothing “special” about the bus we were travelling in.

N. Moorthy,

Coimbatore.

Banking woes

I am listing some of the problems customers face in banks. Because of the centralised token system even small work, such as submitting a cheque for outstation clearance, takes hours.

Withdrawal of money too takes a lot of time. Previously a cheque book could be obtained across the counter. Because of ,one has to submit a requisition form for the cheque book and wait for courier/postal delivery.

This involves inordinate delay. I had applied for PIN of my ATM card one-and-a-half months ago. I have yet to receive it, in spite of many reminders.

Reforms should be carefully introduced in our country where 80 per cent of the people are illiterate. In India very few people use ATM since many do not know the procedure. Changeover to new systems should be smooth without eliminating the existing ones.

P.K. Ramachandran,

Coimbatore.

Stray dogs

Of late, the population of stray dogs has increased in and around Govindaswamy Naidu Nagar, Sri Andal L/O, Kothari L/O, Raja Colony et al in Ward No 14.

The aged and the children alike are in constant fear of unpredictable behaviour of these care-free beasts.

It has become very difficult for the inmates to walk freely, more-so, in the early hours of the day when people venture on walks and after dusk. The law of SPCA is a deterrent too. The Corporation authorities should initiate immediate action for control of this dog menace before it gets out of hand.

JVV Murthy,

Trichy Road.

Short-listed candidates

Nowadays getting an information technology job is a cake walk for engineering students. Of late it is observed that most of the IT companies recruit the engineering students by the end of the third year.

Most of the placement cells of colleges ask students not to participate in the interviews or written tests of other companies if they have already been short-listed by an IT company. So the students are left with no choice but to join the company. After completion of the final year, the short-listed students expect their placement order. Alas, the IT companies forget them, busy in recruiting third year students from the same college. The student waits endlessly sometimes nine months to a year (or maybe more) to get their placement order, wasting their time and their parents’ efforts. I do not understand why the IT companies do this. On one side the IT companies are saying that they are not getting people to fill vacancies and are going on mass recruitment but they forget to invite the short-listed candidates. It looks like each one of them grabs the best students on first-come-first-served basis and keep them guessing.

Coimbatore Ratnam,

Kuwait.

Road safety

On the Club Road, near Ooty Club there is a cluster of hotels and part of the road is occupied by tourist buses and cars of visitors, besides vehicles plying on the road from Karnataka and Kerala.

On the approach road to Ooty Club and Woodside School, there is a bus stand for route buses, coming from Finger Post. With all these, the road becomes so congested that pedestrians feel very unsafe. The present location of the bus stop is inconvenient for those who get down in a hurry.

Ramanuj Prasad,

Udhagamandalam. Readers can mail to cbereaders@thehindu.co.in with address and telephone number

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