ALKESH DINESH MODY INSTITUTE FOR FINANCIAL AND MANAGEMENT STUDIES Department of Mumbai University

MCS
Abhishek Patil
ROLL NO-33

Case Study

For a half hour, a bus in Pune lurched through the city's streets, hitting one vehicle after another and running into pedestrians. Nine people have died and nearly 30 injured. A total of 40 vehicles were mangled.Santosh Mane, an employee of the state transport corporation, had a valid license and a master-key to public buses. He grabbed an empty one at the Swargate bus depot and hit the road, often driving on the wrong side of the street. Traffic marshals fired at the bus to force Mr Mane to stop. According to some reports, the 30-year-old driver was eventually stopped by a college student who managed to overpower him. Eyewitnesses say they flung schoolchildren out of his way as he steered maniacally through sections packed with morning commuters from 8.15 to 8.45 am."I go jogging every morning. I saw a bus driver racing towards me and I managed to jump out of the way. This is my second birth. I thank God," said a man who survived Mr Rane's rampage. Mr Mane faces murder charges. Till as recently as yesterday, he drove a bus on official duty. Reflecting public anger, the Pune Bar Association has refused to defend Santosh Mane, the state transport bus driver who went berserk on a busy street here during morning rush hours on Wednesday, killing nine people and injuring 30 others. When Santosh Mane was produced before the court on Thursday, the lawyers refused to represent him. The lawyers have unanimously decided not to represent Mane on 'humanitarian' grounds. "Mane has the right to find a defence lawyer during his trial. But we decided that we will not represent him before that," Milind Pawar, member of privilege committee of the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa, had told IANS on Thursday. What he did cannot be justified, whether or not he was in a sane state of mind. We have all decided we will not represent him on moral grounds," he added. Following the ghastly accident in which an MSRTC driver mowed down eight people and injured 30 others in Pune on January 25, the bus corporation has now decided to conduct a psychological profiling of more than 20,000 drivers plying buses across the state.More than a hundred drivers ply the Mumbai-Pune AC Volvos. There is now panic among passengers following the Pune incident. Sources at the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation said a committee of experts, including doctors, psychiatrists and government officials, will be set up on Monday.

Analysis
Management view: As State transport routine of driving is different form city transport system. In cities there is fix distance that drivers are familiar with it. In state transport there are long distances which take more time than daily working hours. Management have no choice but to send drivers in these routes. At present, due to shortage of manpower, regional transport officers are not able to conduct tests properly. Management do not have time to resolve every other drivers issue, this can be due to red tappism and other process involved. Drivers view: Santosh Manewas getting treatments for depression for the last many years Mane was patient for many years, and was under the treatment for his psychiatric problems. He was a little absent-minded, and talked nonsense sometimes. He was a depressed person.Santosh has three children. His wife, in a state of shock after hearing the horrific news, was admitted to a hospital. Long routes of driving and long working hours led to this situation. Solution: There are no regulations which stipulate drivers working hours, their salaries, and other benefits which people in the organised sector get. They are exploited by persons or agencies who appoint them and road safety is compromised in the process. However this is a case of frustration of working in long shift and mental illness led to this horrifying accident. Drivers are unorganised as of now.