The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has directed the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) to put a stop to the practice of its employees forcing the ill, the elderly, and women to get off the buses in the middle of the road at night.
Commission member V.K. Beenakumari directed the KSRTC to take strict action against such employees and inform the commission of it. The action comes on a complaint by Kadappakada resident K.R. Radhakrishnan.
A cardiac patient, he had boarded a KSRTC bus at Adoor and sought to disembark at Kollam cotton mill bus stop, but was forced to get off at Randakutti stop, the complainant said.
Report sought
The commission sought a report from the KSRTC managing director who in turn informed the panel that disciplinary action was taken against the conductor and driver of the bus that starts from the Adoor depot.
However, the commission demanded that the KSRTC’s usual practice of issuing a show-cause notice and seeking an explanation should not be repeated, nor should people be forced to disembark in the middle of the road at night in violation of existing directions on the matter.