In driver’s seat: Newbies who can’t even shift gears of buses
DANGER Video showing a conductor shifting gears aboard a bus goes viral, probe on
ROHTAK: Hours after a video purportedly shot on a Ratia-bound bus surfaced on social media, showing a temporary driver struggling to handle the vehicle, the Fatehabad depot has launched a probe. In the footage in question, the driver is seen handling only the steering, while the conductor, sitting next to him on the bonnet, is shifting the gears. A passenger in the bus had shot the video and from there is went on the social media.
To keep buses running amid the strike, the government had invited applications to recruit around 500 drivers on a threemonth contract.
Even as the government advertisement had sought at least three years of heavy-vehicle driving experience, most applicants admitted to Hindustan Times that they did not have this requisite experience.
Hence, the government move to hire new staff has actually backfired.
In the specific case of the bus headed for Ratia, general manager Shambhu Rathee said the driver and conductor had not been identified yet. “Drivers have been temporarily hired through agencies. Once we identify this driver, we will repatriate him back to the agency and will no longer use his services,” he added. In another video that has gone viral on social media, a Haryana Roadways bus is seen ramming into a van in Sonepat.
The video shows the van incurring damages. In the video, the bus driver, after hitting the van once, is seen colliding the bus with the vehicle again, after reversing.