Interview to Media: Four BRTC bus drivers suspended

 Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) has suspended four of its drivers for giving interviews to the electronic media about their long pending arrears.

The chairman of the state-owned corporation issued the suspension order on July 1, but the drivers received the letters on July 11.

On Tuesday, a corporation official interrogated the four at a BRTC Bus Depot in the capital.

All four drivers had been working at the capital's Joar Sahara BRTC Bus Depot on April 21 when they gave the interviews. But two of them were transferred to Bagura and Dinajpur BRTC bus depots last month allegedly for the same reason.

The Daily Star has obtained a copy of the suspension order.

In the letter, BRTC Chairman Ehsan-E-Elahi said they gave "false and fabricated interviews" to an electronic media on salaries, allowances and other issues without taking permission from the authorities. This tarnished the corporation's image among the people.

"So, they have been suspended from July 1 under section 45 (1) of the BRTC Employment Regulation-1990. During the suspension period, they will ensure their presence at the depot on every working day. The drivers will get "khoraki" (partial salary) during the same period," reads the order.

The section 45 (1) of the regulation deals with suspension of employees.

Speaking to this correspondent, one of the suspended drivers said, "We didn't say anything false or fabricated about the BRTC in the interview. We just talked about our arrears and sought the prime minister's intervention in this regard.

"We said that many of us were working to transport [suspected] coronavirus patients from the airport to Hajj Camp [isolation centre]. There are eight-month arrears of our salaries. Is asking for arrears our fault?" he said wishing anonymity for fear of further reprisal.

Another driver said two of them talked to the media while the two others were standing beside them. But the two others were also suspended for "talking to the media".

"Before the issuance of the suspension order, two of us were transferred from the Joar Sahara depot on June 2 without any reason mentioned. We think the transfer order was linked to the interviews," the driver added.

"We had eight-month arrears when we talked to the media. It has now gone up to 10 months. The situation is similar in many depots," he said.

He expressed worries over passing his days with a "partial salary" amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Drivers said they earn Tk 22,000 to Tk 23,000 each a month. Following the suspension, they will now get around half the amount.

Some 3,000 BRTC employees, including drivers, get salaries and other benefits like that of a government employee. But under the current system, the salaries and benefits of a depot employee has to be paid from the earnings of that particular depot.

Apart from operating buses by itself, the corporation also earns by leasing out buses to private entities and organisations, including educational institutions.

BRTC officials said the depots have been struggling to pay the employees after the government implemented a new pay scale in 2016. Although the salary of the depot staffers increased, their income did not grow.

Staffers, however, alleged that corruption by some BRTC officials, including those running deports, was causing sufferings to them.

Expressing anger and frustration by BRTC depot workers over their unpaid salaries is nothing new. Last year, workers of different depots staged demonstrations demanding payment of their arrears.

On July 22 last year, staffers and drivers of the 22 BRTC depots confined their then chairman to the corporation's head office in the capital over unpaid salaries. Amid such a situation, the government replaced the then chairman with the current one.

Taking charge in August last year, Ehsan-E-Elahi had pledged to clear the arrears.

But drivers at different depots said although they receive salaries of running months, their long pending arrears are yet to be cleared. They said they were yet to get the salaries of the last two months.

Despite repeated attempts, The Daily Star could not reach Ehsan-E-Elahi over the phone for comments.

BRTC spokesperson Amzad Hossain said the four driver were suspended for giving "false information" to an electronic media outlet and not taking permission for giving the interview.

"It can be assumed from their statement to the media that they did not get salaries of last month. This is a false statement. They received salaries regularly after the new chairman took over [in August last year]," Amzad told The Daily Star yesterday.

Admitting that there were arrears of drivers' salaries of several months, he said those became due long ago.

He, however, said they were trying to pay the last two month's salaries very soon.

Rights activist Nur Khan Lition said the BRTC's suspension order is "an attempt to curb people's freedom of speech" which has been ensured in the country's constitution

He said a driver or a staffer has the right to talk to the media for drawing the attention of his higher authorities if he did not get his salaries.

"Talking to the media can't be an offence," he told this newspaper yesterday.

Till February this year, the BRTC owned 1,873 buses, including 600 new ones. Of them, 1,357 were in service on 384 routes across the country.

The corporation added 1,100 new vehicles -- 600 buses and 500 trucks -- to its fleet last year.