The Chennai Metropolitan Transport Corporation’s recent decision to issue the government bus logbook form in English for drivers and conductors to fill out has come as a surprise and shock to transport workers.
The Chennai Metropolitan Transport Corporation operates over 3,200 buses on more than 600 routes, employing more than 15,000 drivers and conductors. Each day, when a bus departs from the depot, the driver and conductor are given a form known as the “Vehicle Logbook” by the depot’s branch manager.
The form includes details such as the bus route number, departure and arrival times, and the names of the driver and conductor. It also requires reporting of any accidents that occur during the trip. If the bus has any defects or requires repairs, these issues must be clearly noted and submitted to the authorities.
For many years, this logbook was provided in Tamil. However, it is now being distributed in English in workshops such as the Central Workshop and Anna Nagar in Chennai, leaving transport workers shocked.
Some workers have raised concerns with transport officials, questioning why the DMK government, which has historically opposed Hindi, is now changing the logbook from Tamil to English.
Ramamoorthy, state vice-president of the Netaji Transport Workers Union, expressed his discontent, stating that most drivers and conductors have studied only up to the 12th grade and find it difficult to read and understand the form in English, especially when raising complaints about bus repairs.
He condemned the administration’s move and insisted that the vehicle record form should be issued in Tamil once again.
(With inputs from Dinamalar)
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