Bus drivers and helpers given a raw deal by employers

The drivers and workers of inter-city buses have no respite even on the days of hartal as they pass a busy time cleaning and repairing their vehicles at the terminals.

Instead of wages they are paid only the cost of their meals on the day, said Russel Sheikh, a helper of Sharbik Paribahan that plies the Dhaka-Madaripur route.

Russel, who was helping the mechanics to repair the bus at Gabtali inter-district terminal, said that his family badly misses his daily income of about Tk 200 on hartal days.

'We don't have any home in Dhaka and that is why we have to sleep in the bus in spite of the mosquitoes that bite us throughout the night,' said driver Md Abdullah of Shoukhin Paribahan that plies the Dhaka-Khulna route.

Abdullah, who was gossiping with some of his colleagues at the same terminal, said sadly that they cannot leave the buses to enjoy their holidays with friends and family, as other people do.

On hartal days, he said, they had to spend more than other days as they have to take tea, snacks and cigarettes either out of sheer boredom or to ease the ache of being away from their families.

'After completing each trip, I go to my home in Gazipur and teach my children,' Quamrul Hasan Kanak, a driver of Hanif Paribahan which plies the Dhaka-Chittagong route, told New Age. 'But due to hartal, I had to stay at the terminal to help in the repairing and cleaning of my bus. I lighten my homesickness by talking to the children over my mobile.'

He said that a driver gets Tk 1,000, supervisor Tk 700 and helper Tk 500 for each up-and-down trip, but they get nothing if there is no trip.

According to official sources in Association of Bus Companies, around 29,000 buses ply the various long inter-district routes, and use the Gabtoli, Mohakhali and Syedabad inter-district bus terminals.

Almost one-third of the total number of buses were stationed at the three terminals on Sunday, they said. A good number of buses were kept in different garages for repair work and for security, they added.

The bus owners' association president, Rafiqul Islam Kajal, told New Age that though some companies pay for the food of their staff, many of them do not, forcing their employees to spend their own money on food.

Source : New Age