AIADMK, PMK slam T.N. government move to recruit bus drivers, conductors from manpower agencies

AIADMK general secretary and Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Wednesday, June 20, condemned the T.N. State Transport Corporations plan to recruit bus drivers and conductors on a contract basis, through private manpower agencies.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Mr. Palaniswami said there were suspicions that the DMK government was planning to privatise State Transport Corporations and as a first phase, the Transport Corporations were seeking to recruit bus drivers and conductors on a contract basis.

He called for the cancellation of contracts sought for by Zonal Transport Corporations in Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Nagercoil to recruit drivers and conductors from manpower agencies.

Mr. Palaniswami also urged the DMK government to drop any plans it had for privatisation, undertake recruitment in a proper manner, fulfill the demands of Transport Corporation employees and upgrade the infrastructure of the Transport Department to ensure smooth service for the public.

In a separate post, ADMK Workers Rights Retrieval Committee coordinator O. Panneerselvam also condemned the move and said this was against the principle of social justice.

He sought Chief Minister M K Stalin’s intervention to cancel the tender seeking for recruitment from manpower agencies.

PMK criticises move

PMK president Anbumani Ramadoss on Wednesday, June 20, recalled how the DMK had opposed the appointment of drivers and conductors on a contract basis for the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation while it was in the Opposition but said it was now implementing the same policy, which has been criticised by the Madras High Court for ‘encouraging labour exploitation’, in Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Nagercoil.

In a statement, Dr. Anbumani said that persisting with the appointments on a contract basis would result in the State government facing strong opposition similar to what it had faced when it passed a Bill allowing a 12-hour work day in 2023.

“The drivers and conductors are the backbone of the State Transport Corporations. It is only natural justice that they should be appointed by following proper procedures and be paid wages commensurate with their work. However, instead of following such a procedure, the Tamil Nadu government is imposing a labor-exploitative contract system that hands over the labour of drivers and conductors to private human resource companies. This practice is against both natural justice and social justice,” he said.

Dr. Anbumani said that this move would result in powerful people in State government giving contracts to human resource companies close to them.

“These companies will be paid an amount by the State Transport Corporations lower than the wages currently paid to permanent employees. The private company, then, will take a portion of this amount and give a significantly lower amount to the contract drivers. A greater injustice would be that no reservations will be provided in appointments made through private human resource companies,” he said, adding that the government should abandon the appointment of drivers and conductors on contract basis and instead, directly appoint transport department workers.