The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Thrilling road ahead for these trainees

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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Thrilling road ahead for these trainees

K. Manikandan

15-year-wait comes to an end for them

— Photo: A. Muralitharan

S.B.Noor Jahan (left) and R.Prabhavathi, who are undergoing training to become MTC bus conductors.

TAMBARAM: Their training stint at the Metropolitan Transport Corporation’s Traffic Training School in Chromepet signals the end of a 15-year-long wait for a government job.

R. Prabhavathi, 35, and S. B. Noor Jahan, 31, would soon be issuing tickets to commuters travelling in MTC buses in a few days.

They are among the 160 persons undergoing training at the Traffic Training School. While 30 of them are being trained to become drivers, the remaining are getting trained as conductors, including the two women.

“My father Rajendran was a conductor on 17 D bus for a number of years and he had earned the respect and affection of many of the commuters. I used to travel with him as a child and that was when I made up my mind to become a conductor,” Ms. Prabhavathi said.

Another member in her family, Thanga Pandian, her brother-in-law, is also a conductor in another State Transport Corporation. The mother of two school-going children said the job of a conductor offered plenty of scope to serve commuters to earn respect and recognition in the society.

Ms.Noor Jahan of Gopalapuram village in Tiruvallur district is married to a lorry driver and like Ms. Prabhavathi, had registered with the employment exchange about 15 years ago.

“It is like a dream come true. Getting a secure job would not only make us confident, but also bring immense relief to our struggling families,” she said.

Mother of three school-going children, Ms.Noor Jahan said she enjoyed the support of, and got encouragement, from all her relatives and friends when she informed them that she would be working as a conductor.

In addition to a basic training for about a fortnight, the trainees would be sent for practical training for some weeks. Officials at Traffic Training School said they would be sent on route buses where they would have to observe and pick up basic skills from conductors on duty.

“Expectations from the commuters are many. They want conductors to be polite and move up and down the buses. And we have the quality to serve commuters with courtesy and patience,” Ms. Prabhavathi said.

At the same time, there were some commuters who were aggressive and hostile. During the course of the practical training, they had learnt there were a negligible section of the commuters who would travel without purchasing a ticket and who would jump out when asked to buy the same.

“But we should not lose our cool as such things are common,” she said.

MTC officials said the number of women conductors employed in the Corporation was negligible. A number of women were trained at the Chromepet institute in the past and after a couple of years as conductors and drivers, joined in the clerical grade after completing computer training.

For women conductors working out of bus stops, the job is easy, but for those who are put on duty in crowded routes, the pressure becomes too much to bear after some time, they said.

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