PMPML staff in favour of demerger

In 2007, PMPML was formed to provide bus services as efficient as Mumbai's BEST. But seven years later, the employees of the undertaking said that the merger between the two transport utilities -- Pune Municipal Transport (PMT) and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Transport (PCMT) -- has failed.

With the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) corporators unanimously passing a resolution calling for the demerger of the PMPML last Thursday, MiD DAY tried to ascertain the view of the staff.

"The work pressure has increased across the departments in our workshop. According to the Central Institute of Road Transport (CIRT) there should be a minimum of 15 workers in every workshop, whereas we have only five. On the other hand, we are not provided with spare parts, so the buses are not repaired in time and are parked in the depot for days. Before the merger, the situation was different; there used always be stock of spare parts and it was easily accessible," said Prashant Kamble, a worker from PMPML central workshop at Swargate.

Maruti Kolhat, driver at Katraj bus depot, said, "At Katraj depot, the new CNG buses are run by contractors. So they have employed their own drivers. Every day more than 50 permanent PMPML drivers return home without getting a duty. The worst part is that PMPML has to pay the permanent drivers the monthly salary. It is the fault of the administration that the drivers are paid without working. PMC should take charge of PMPML, so that contract buses will be shut down and we will get work."

Nuruddin Inamdar, general secretary, PMPML workers union, said, "All our 11,000 employees are mentally, physically and even economically depressed by the entire PMPML system. The reason behind the collaboration of PMT and PCMT has not lived up to expectations. Its objectives were route rationalisation as many routes were overlapping, decreasing the fares and giving a better service to the commuters. All of this is not being achieved by the PMPML administration. So this demerger is necessary and PMT should be joined with PMC and all its administrative work should be carried out by the civic body.