COMMUNICATIONS

PUBLIC TRANSPORTS

 State Transport.

As a part of its policy of maximum social advantage, the State  Government decided to nationalise motor transport industry in 1947, and set up a statutory public corporation called the Bombay State Road Transport Corporation for owning and operating the nationalised road transport in the State.

A short historical resume of the inception of the Corporation and its operations is given below. After World War I road transport regained its lost importance, and automobiles came in the picture. With the end of World War II road transport underwent progressive changes, and there emerged a network of motor transport. New roads were built, and old ones were repaired. With this progress in motor transport, there emerged a multiplicity of motor owners, and there was an uneconomic competition. Profit maximisation being the chief motive of private ownership many undesirable features crept in motor transport, e.g., duplication of services, lack of amenities for passengers, overcrowding, disregard of rules for safety of passengers and speed limits. Examples of injury to life and limbs were numerous. The relations of employees and employers were uncordial.

In order to set this state of affairs right the Government decided to nationalise road transport industry in 1947, and the services were operated under authority of the Road Transport Corporation Act of 1948.

For administrative convenience of operating the services, the entire State is divided into viable units called Divisions. State Transport operations in Satara district are covered in the Poona, Kolhapur and Sholapur Divisions. The nationalisation of services in Poona Division was started in June 1948. and that in Kolhapur Division in August 1949.

Statistics of Routes.

The table below indicates the various routes in operation, route mileage, frequency of ' Up' and ' Down ' trips and the average number of passengers travelled per route:—

TABLE No. 4.

STATE TRANSPORT ROUTES IN SATARA DISTRICT AS IN MAY 1958.

TABLE No. 4-coutd.

*These  routes are operated at the Mahabaleshwar Hill Station.

Depots and Garages.

The State Transport maintains depots and garages to which are attached workshops for the proper maintenance of vehicles, oiling, greasing, cleaning, servicing, etc. The light and heavy repairs of buses and trucks are carried out at the Divisional Workshops at Poona and Kolhapur. Further, after the operation of every 12.000 miles vehicles are sent to the Divisional Workshop for their inspection. In addition there are workshops at all the depots, viz., Satara, Koregaon, Wai, Mahabaleshwar and Karad. The following statement indicates the number of vehicles attached, persons employed and premises of the various depots as upto January 1959.

Amenities.

The State Transport Corporation maintains bus stations at Satara, Mahabaleshwar and Karad. There are bus stands at Koregaon and Wai in Poona Division, and at Karad, Koynanagar, Mayani, Patan and Umbraj in Kolhapur Division. Waiting rooms are pro-vided for at Koregaon, Mahabaleshwar, Panchgani, Satara, Wai, Karad, Mayani and Umbraj. The State Transport authorities have built sheds for the travelling public at Aundh, Khatav, Mhaswad and Pusegaon in Poona Division.

The bus stands at Koregaon, Mahabaleshwar, Satara, Wai, Karad, Mayani and Umbraj are served with refreshment rooms; while drinking water arrangements are made available at Satara, Karad and Umbraj. There are fruit stalls at Satara and Karad, and book stalls at Satara, Koregaon and Karad. The bus stands at Koregaon, Mahabaleshwar, Satara, Wai, Karad and Umbraj are provided with lavatories and urinals. There are reservation offices at Satara, Wai and Karad. First-aid equipment is provided at all the depots.

Special arrangements are made on special occasions like fairs, melas etc., and extra buses are run. In the summer extra buses are run to and fro Mahabaleshwar hill station.

Fares.

The schedule of fares charged by the State Transport is based on the stage system, 20 naye parse being the fare for a stage of 4 miles, and 10 naye paise for a sub-stage of two miles in the case of villages closely situated. The schedule of fares is uniform throughout the State and is not related to its earnings in any particular division.

Labour Welfare.

The State Transport Corporation provides housing accommodation to the staff. Sports are encouraged and funds are sanctioned every year, out of which sports material is supplied to all units of the division, tournaments are arranged, and prizes are distributed to the winners. The employees participate in the zonal and inter-zonal sports.

A dispensary is maintained at the headquarters of the division to provide medical aid to the workers and their families.

A quarterly bulletin in Marathi is published, and the issues are given to the employees free of charge. At the divisional office in Poona a library is provided, while there are reading rooms furnished with newspapers and magazines at each depot. Retiring rooms are provided at Mahabaleshwar, Koregaon and Satara. Banking facilities with the State Transport Co-operative Bank Ltd., are made available. In addition to this the State Transport Kamgar Co-operative Society is established at Karad.

A State Transport Workers' Union with a membership of about 50 per cent. of the staff is affiliated to the Indian National Trade Union Congress. This Union is recognised by the State Transport Corporation, and its representatives have an access to the head of the division for seeking redress to their grievances.

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