Best won’t protect killer drivers: GM

MUMBAI: BEST is keen to distance itself from its ‘worst’. The undertaking decided on Tuesday that it would no longer shoulder the responsibility of protecting its drivers involved in fatal accidents.

“Accidents, especially the fatal ones, will no longer be tolerated. It is a purely criminal act and the guilty would not be given any protection in terms of bail, or otherwise, by the undertaking,” said Uttam Khobragade, BEST general manager. This, however, ruffled union leaders, who slammed Khobragade for his “anti-employee approach and said he should step down as general manager.

With the number of fatal accidents shooting up in the past few years, the undertaking, which till 2004 had boasted of its World Safety Award tag, recently came under flak. “It has become a moral issue. Running over people is simply not permissible. Protecting these drivers means encouraging them to commit similar accidents in future,” said Khobragade.

Previously, when BEST had been compared with the “killer” Blue Line buses of New Delhi, Khobragade had said, “It is unfair to compare accidents by BEST with those by drivers of Blue Line buses. Blue Line has featured in many head-on collisions, while in most of the BEST fatalities, the victim was came under the rear wheel of the bus, for which the driver should not be blamed.”

On Tuesday, however, he said, “It is irrelevant to reiterate how the undertaking had dealt with such situations in the past. What is important is that the guilty driver must be punished, without any protection from the undertaking.” The GM’s stand triggered protests among various BEST unions, who were unanimous that Khobragade should resign if he couldn’t tackle such incidents.

“This cannot be the means to curb fatal accidents. An accident is an accident, its never an intentional criminal activity. If the concerned driver is innocent, the undertaking, being the employer, must give him due protection,” said Sunil Ganacharya, general secretary of BEST Kamgar Sena.

 “With the ever-growing number of vehicles on city roads and never-ending traffic snarls, it is difficult to steer the buses safely. Drivers are under immense pressure and strain while driving the buses,” he added.

Ravi Raja, BEST committee member, questioned whether the undertaking wanted to increase the stress levels of drivers by wrong means. “Committee members will discuss the issue with Khobragade. One must be careful while driving, but the employer cannot do away with such responsibilities. This will create more pressure on the drivers,” he said.