KSRTC to launch grievance cell

KSRTC's Mysore Urban Division will make bus services more efficient and traveller-friendly by February 2014, says its Divisional Traffic Officer. Photo: M.A. Sriram

KSRTC Divisional Traffic Officer Maqsood Ahmed stated that the KSRTC “was sensitive to public grievances” and would soon launch a 24x7 grievance cell at the city bus-stand here. A mobile number, to which, complaints and suggestions can be sent via SMS, would also be made active.

He made this announcement at a monthly public meeting of the Mysore Grahakara Parishat (MGP) organised here on Sunday to discuss problems related to bus services in Mysore. Officials from the KSRTC traffic division Vishakantha Murthy and Shashi Kumar received public grievances and provided their responses.

Shankara, a member of MGP, listed out the major problems confronted by the public based on his collection of complaints and his own experiences. The grievances were grouped under four categories — frequency and timing issues; extension of routes; enforcement of bus stops; and staff interaction with the travelling public.

In his response, Mr. Ahmed spoke about the proposed 24x7 grievance cell and stated that KSRTC needed the cooperation of the police and the Mysore City Corporation (MCC), as well as the travelling public, to make city bus services “people-oriented and efficient.” To facilitate such coordination, the MGP’s monthly meeting in January will discuss Mysore traffic issues and invite officers from the Police Department and the MCC, a release here from MGP said.

Mr. Ahmed also stated that Mysore was the only city to have been chosen under JnNURM (Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission) for the introduction of intelligent information-based bus services and even though there were some initial hiccups, they will be sorted out soon, and the result will be more “commuter-friendly” city bus services.

At present, a survey is being conducted to ascertain the specific needs of the travelling public at different places and different timings. Bus schedules will be accordingly modified, he added. By February 2014, the KSRTC urban division is going to add another 120 buses to the existing fleet (400 buses) which will provide a great relief to commuters along with the scientific rescheduling of the present and new routes and schedules,.

He also stated that the KSRTC’s urban division did not get any financial support from the government, other than the reimbursement of concessions to students, senior citizens and others. Therefore it is constrained to restricting operations to routes wherein it can at least recover fuel costs, if not total costs.

He also said that soon the corporation would introduce student-specific bus services for the convenience of students on one hand and to reduce congestion in buses.