The Gazetteers Department

Nationalisation of passenger transport was decided upon by the State Government in August 1947 and initially the services were started departmentally in June 1948. The administration was subsequently handed over to a statutory Corporation in December 1949, under the provisions of the Road Transport Corporation Act (XXXII of 1948). Since then the Corporation has been reconstituted under the Road Transport Act LXIV of 1950.

Organisation

For administrative convenience of operating the services the erstwhile Bombay State was originally divided into 16 viable units called divisions. After the States reorganisation in 1956, three units were transferred to Mysore State. With the bifurcation of the bilingual Bombay State on May 1, 1960, five northern divisions were transferred to the Gujarat State thus leaving 8 divisions in the residual Corporation in Maharashtra. With the merger of the Public Transport Services, Nagpur, in the Vidarbha region and the State Transport Services in the Marath-wada region, from July 1, 1961, two new divisions were created. Simultaneously, the name of the Corporation was. changed from "Bombay State Road Transport Corporation" to "Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation".

The officer-in-charge of each division is called the Divisional Controller who is a Class I Officer. He is immediately under the control of the Central Office of which the General Manager is the administrative head assisted by the following departments and branches, viz., (1) Administration, (2) Accounts and Audit, (3) Traffic, (4) Mechanical Engineering, (5) Statistics, (6) Security, (7) Stores, (8) Civil Engineering, (9) Secretariat, (10) Legal and (11) Central Workshops.

The nationalisation of services in Sangli district, which forms part of Kolhapur Division, was started in March 1949. The Divisional Controller is the head of the division and is responsible for the operations in the division. He is assisted by 9 Class II Officers, who are charged with the following functional responsibilities.

Administration and Traffic.-There are two officers under these heads of activity. The Divisional Traffic Officer is in charge of all matters relating to traffic and operations and the Labour Officer looks after all matters relating to labour relations with the administration. Matters relating to Publicity in the division are also looked after by the Labour Officer,

Accounts and Statistics.-These branches are manned by two officers viz., the Divisional Accounts Officer and the Divisional Statistician.

Technical.-The technical side of the divisions is looked after by the Divisional Mechanical Engineer with the assistance of the Divisional Works Superintendent. Besides, there are as many Depot Managers as there are depots who are wholly responsible for the working of the respective depots in the Division.

The operations in the Sangli district were first starred on the Sangli-Bijapur route with three vehicles. The first depot at Sangli was started in January 1950 with eight vehicles. The process of expansion was very rapid and within a few years the operations, were practically spread over the whole district. By 31st December 1962 there were in all five depots in the district situated at Sangli, Islampur, Vita, Tasgaon and Jath. The Kolhapur division, of which Sangli district forms a part, had 277 buses plying on 239 routes. The buses put on road have, on an average, a seating capacity of 42.6, exclusive of seats for the driver, and the conductor. The average daily mileage covered by these buses during December 1962 was 28,824, carrying, on an average, 68,206 passengers per day.

The light and heavy repairs of the buses are carried out at the Divisional Workshop which is situated at Kolhapur. Further, after the operation of every 12,000 miles the vehicles are routed by the depots to the Divisional Workshop for preventive maintenance. In addition, a number of depot workshops are situated at each of the following places for the daily maintenance of vehicles viz., Kolhapur (72), Sangli (41), Karad (40), Islampur (22), Ichalkaranji (22), Vita (20), Tasgaon (19) and Jath (17). The number of vehicles attached to each of these depots is given in brackets. Regular daily and weekly servicing, weekly and 4,000 mile docking for maintenance are carried out in these depots.

For the convenience of the travelling public the Corporation provides a number of amenities, in the district.

At the bus station at Sangli the amenities such as a refreshment room, waiting hall, fruit stall, "pan-bidi" stall and newspaper stall, etc., have been provided. Temporary bus stations are also provided at Atpadi, Jath, Kavathe Mahankal, Miraj, Tasgaon and Vita. In addition pick-up stands with tea stalls and waiting halls are provided at Khanapur, Kavathepiran, Kadegaon, Kadepur, Sangli Post Office, Sangli Market, Wanles-wadi and Miraj.

The Corporation also provides, welfare facilities to its employees. There is a Labour Welfare Centre which provides indoor games and recreational facilities at Kolhapur, the headquarters of the division. Welfare facilities for workers' families are also provided at this centre, such as sewing classes, montes-sori classes, etc. In addition to this, medical dispensaries for the workers and their families are provided at Kolhapur, Sangli and Karad.

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