COMMENTS

@Naveen

claim that since others liked your post, it must be fact.

The post was by SB, and not by me (I had mentioned this originally too).

Let us try and understand the fundamental differences between our stances. I am for a liberal regime, where both PSU's as well as private players are allowed to operate on a level playing field (it can even be sloped slightly in favour of the PSU's), all overseen by a regulator, whose job will be more to facilitate healthy competition, while keeping consumer interest foremost, than exercising unnecessary and debilitating controls. As compared to that, apparently out of some fear psychosis you seem to have developed about private players in Mangalore, you want perpetuation of a "nanny" state, controlling everything about the bus services, without bothering to appreciate the fact that it is this nanny approach of the state that has been responsible for all the ills of the Mangalore operations. It is to their credit that, inspite of it all, they provide largely better services than the PSU operators.

The talk by Mr J P Gupta, IAS, Commissioner for Transport, Govt of Gujarat, in the opening session, was the highlight of the event as far as I was concerned. He stated that the biggest problem facing the bus transport servivces sector was the messed up licensing and regulatory regime prevailing in the country. Elaborating further, he stated that over 80% of the buses operated by the private players (almost across the country) are licensed as "contract carriages", whereas they operate as "stage carriages" in open violation of the relevant rules. And, it is not as if the government operators can meet the demand if the private players are not there. Very clearly, therefore, there is a dire need to review the entire licensing regime in order to attract good players into the field, and thereby improve the overall quality of services.

The above excerpts are from my report on ConnectKaro event held in March this year in the city (full report may be accessed here). I had mailed the text to Mr Gupta, and got his OK before posting it. Well, when you have earlier said that the Principal Secretary, Karnataka, was talking nonsense, as also the Karnataka High Court judges, I wouldn't be surprised if you continue in the same obstinate vein about Mr Gupta too. God bless you!

PS: Atal Saarige was another of the many gimmicks that the BMTC came up with during the BJP regime, and which they folded up after it had served its limited purpose of getting them some publicity mileage.

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@Murali,

claim that since others liked your post, it must be fact.
The post was by SB, and not by me (I had mentioned this originally too).

Okay, noted.

I agree that private sector has a role to play in inter-city travel since govt alone will not be able to meet the demands. The bad state of bus services is not entirely due to ambiguities in the MV act. Even if the laws were made crystal clear, most operators would still attempt to indulge in cheating & subversion since the market is dominated by passengers with low paying ability for most part. No doubt govts will have to keep experimenting with different ways to minimize this but bus sector is the most difficult to monitor owing to the nature of the business where buses are "here today, elsewhere tomorrow".

So, please stop imagining & day-dreaming about "good players" - there are few in the field & this ratio will change little & be incremental because most from the customer base cannot afford travel by premium services & additions will be slow. Under the present conditions with greed, corruption & low-fare seeking passengers, it will take several decades to entirely cleanse the system even if laws are made spot on since govt officials, cops & buses will keep inventing newer & newer methods to circumvent rules. Besides, monitoring inter-state operations needs co-ordination between states that has always been found wanting.

For urban city transport, private operators are never a solution anywhere in the world unless segregated busways are built. Else private buses will block lanes, indulge in speeding to pick passengers, run down 2-wheelers & pedestrians, stop or delay services when passengers are few & create huge chaos on roads. We have already seen all of this in Delhi & continue seeing it in Mangalore, Kochi etc. These are the realities - ability of traffic police to check these has limits & will never be enough, going by global examples. Even cops & licensing authorities will cash in on the mayhem, caring little for commuters.

And, please stop repeatedly attempting to spread false rumours without proof. Are all of the news items about repeated complaints against Mangalore bus operators & road safety imaginary? Is public blocading private buses in Mangalore imaginary? Is over-crowding & stopping services short when buses are not full imaginary? Is harsh criticism against private buses by almost all individuals also imaginary? Recently, my sister (who lives in Mangalore) was mentioning that Mangalore-Udipi highway has the maximum number of accidents in the country despite being 4-laned.

If you continue not to acknowledge all of these as facts, then maybe even god can't help you! These are realities too. So, since you seem to know too little about Mangalore bus services & continue to chant that they are "creditable" just because you wish it were so, please read up & pay more attention to what Mangaloreans say. Private bus operators in Mangalore are a hated lot & public ire may throw all of them out some day soon - Mangaloreans are already saying this - please read from daijiworld.com, mangalorean.com etc. I do not have time to keep posting public opinions any more since you are not just obstinate, but stubborn & perverse in your thinking.

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JNNURM funded buses not allowed to enter Mangalore.

More here:

http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report-jnnurm-funded-buses-not-allowed-in-mangalore-1924567

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It is also improbable for a bus to start exploding just because it hit a culvert

I agree with this... 

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@ Naveen

Fake registration numbers
Fake permits
Used chassis from scrapped or used buses
Body built by private coach builders
One or no emergency window
Windows concealed or tinted
Luggage is never checked
Overloading of rooftop and hold of the bus
No first aid box, or box with inadequate medicines
Drivers, conductors not trained to handle emergencies, have no technical knowledge

Indeed the above quite defines the riff-raff sector (or mafia) that's largely in control of the public bus transport services sector today. But, simultaneously it's also true that the government monopoly service providers just don't have the capacity to take care of the humungous and exponentially multiplying travel demands of the country's population. That being the scenario, like I have been repeatedly saying, shouldn't a responsible government be looking for ways to make the private operators meet the challenges, whatever, particularly when they have shown themselves to be capable in other sectors? And, likewise, shouldn't it be incumbent upon every responsible citizen to demand that?

But, apparently, as far as you are concerned, private sector is an absolute no-no in the case of public bus transport services, even as you celebrate their presence in civil aviation, airport management, apart from being welcoming of them in hotels, power, airlines, telecom (from here), apart from other areas too, I expect. Well, as such, I expect, yours falls into a unique category not quite provided for in my listing of causes for people to oppose privatisation (check here). I'll list it at "t" now.

Incidentally, who do you think is responsible for the huge T & D losses (euphemistically referred to as theft & dacoity) in power supply, when handled by the government agencies? It's the similar riff-raff lot as in the case of bus services, in collusion with the agency's internal mafia. There is the unique case of a Delhi cabinet minister, who was running an energy intensive battery charging unit, right in the heart of the city, when the distribution was in the hands of DESU. Today, with the likes of TATA's taking over, the genuine T&D losses are being recorded at internationally acceptable levels, and power availability is being recorded at 99.9% (check here).

Similar is the scenario in water supply in Namma Bengaluru, with unaccounted for losses recording at over 40%, and the alternate sources being in the control the tanker, bottled water (with fake ISI labels), borewell mafia, aided and abetted by the mafia within the BWSSB.

The Delhi power privatisation has shown the way out in that specific area. Likewise, there are solutions for all problems too if one wants to look for them. And, there exactly is where the problem lies.

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