BMTC traffic controller suspected for getting other staff to buy him cigarettes, eatables

BENGALURU: The Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) employs thousands of people whose jobs may be their main source of income. But an order from the BMTC suspending an official had shocked the transport staff attached to Depot 33. The traffic controller has suspended for getting other staffers buy him cigarettes and other eatables regularly.

The order of the BMTC has attracted condemnation and outrage across the organisation. The BMTC buses are the major public transport in the city and there are more than 6,000 buses plying in the city with thousands of transport staff working with the corporation.

Gurumurthy, who was working as a traffic controller in Depot 33 of Bengaluru, was getting cigarettes and other items from the drivers and conductors for assignment of routes. The BMTC has issued a suspension order for the violation of employee conduct rules and discipline and plans to take disciplinary action against him effective from the date of the order. He will be suspended until the completion of the departmental inquiry.

Anand, a BMTC employees’ union leader, said, “It is common to have tea, cigarettes or biscuits together during breaks. If they are very close to each other, it is quite common to share the cost. It is nothing but friendship, trust, and closeness. We never thought it was a bribe. The order from BMTC has left us worried”.