Jammu, Apr 16: The Jammu and Kashmir State Road Transport Corporation (JKSRTC) is facing shortage of manpower at the administrative level, affecting its smooth functioning, sources told Greater Kashmir on Sunday. 
They said several posts were lying vacant in the corporation and no efforts were being made to fill them. “The SRTC officials are holding the charge of two to three wings and it is virtually impossible for them to do justice with their duties,” they said.
Sources said some senior officers had suggested promotion of junior inspectors as deputy managers and assistant works managers to address the manpower shortage. “This can help solve the shortage of second-line officials in the SRTC,” they said. “The suggestions were turned down by the authorities.”
The Managing Director, SRTC, Anoop Kanav admitted the Corporation was facing manpower shortage. “We also don’t have adequate first and second line officers,” he told Greater Kashmir.
The officers, the sources said, had underlined the need to utilize the services of engineers, MBAs who worked as junior inspectors in the Corporation. “The suggestions were made on the basis of injustice meted out to the MBA cadre serving in the SRTC. It was demanded that these educated employees should be appointed against the direct recruitment quota of over 10 vacant posts,” said former Joint Managing Director SRTC Yogesh Koul in a letter to the SRTC management.
Sources said Koul along with General Manager (operation), General Manager (Mech), Manager (P&S) on March 14, 2007 wrote a letter asserting that the SRTC was short of second-line officers, and the MBAs can be engaged to address the problem.
“Junior Inspectors belong to non-technical cadre and their seniority could not be fixed in the technical maintenance. The MBAs are the feeding cadre for traffic operation management, marketing management and the personnel management and they could help the corporation like they do in other State Transport Undertakings,” Koul had written.
Similar suggestions were made about the apprentice engineers appointed in 1990. “These officials were regularized with passage of time as assistant managers in the grade of Rs 6500-10200. They also brought good results for the sinking Corporation with their hard work. So they can also be engaged as second line officials,” said an official.
The MD promised action. “I would prefer fulfillment of all the vacant posts in the corporation before completion of my tenure,” he said.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 16 May 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 16 May 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 17 May 2010 00:00:00 IST