THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The skewed crew appointments in KSRTC is continuing to be an impediment in utilising the fleet capacity even after the passenger demand has picked up. It is facing the biggest challenge in Thiruvananthapuram, where the shortage of drivers has affected the operations. As many as 687 drivers’ posts have been lying vacant in the district. “The unauthorised parallel services in the district have increased due to schedule cancellation,” said an officer.
The management has taken ad hoc measures to pool drivers from other districts on working arrangement for 30 days to address the issue. Most of the drivers to cover the shortage would be coming from Alappuzha. The depots in Cherthala and Alappuzha have 158 and 94 excess drivers. Meanwhile, KSRTC CMD Biju Prabhakar is preparing for a major shakeup with a general transfer to address the shortage within a month.