THOOTHUKUDI: Citing staff crunch in the technical department of Thoothukudi's SETC depot as having hampered work and inconvenienced passengers, workers of the State Express Transport Corporation (SETC), attached to the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), have urged the state government to fill up all 34 vacancies on a war footing. A resolution regarding the same was passed during a monthly meeting of CITU members, led by the depot's CITU president G Dharmaraj.
According to the resolution, the Thoothukudi unit of SETC operates 76 buses on 40 different routes, including inter-state buses to Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Karnataka. As many as 11 staff are working with the technical department as against the allotted strength of 45. The shortage has led to increased workload and inadequate operations. This has also caused friction between the staff and the superiors, added the resolution, requesting the state government to fill up the vacancies to ensure proper operation of buses.
A member staff, Kathiresan, told TNIE that SETC buses mainly ply to locations exceeding 450 km, with the longest-covered route being the Tiruchendur-Tirupathi bus route, which travels 1,500 km. The poor mechanics in the technical department has hampered the maintenance works of all 76 buses. "Engine oil, radiator checking, transmission, electrical works, alignment and tyre rotation, and other regular maintenance works have been delayed or even skipped at times," he said.
The lack of technical staff has also increased the instances of buses breaking down, which has inconvenienced passengers and the bus crew alike. The buses are not operated as per the schedule as these leave the depots very late, Kathiresan pointed out.
Over 10 apprenticeship interns are working to assist the existing technical staff, however, they can not be relied on. The state government should appoint new staff, as the vacancies have been there for the past 10 years, Kathiresan added.