State PSU paying Rs 60L to idle drivers

Ahmedabad: Ever wondered how that pesky government employee living in your housing society finds time to regularly squabble with you and everyone else?
Bhupesh Dave of Nadiad, fed up with his neighbour's misbehaviour, did just that. Using Right to Information (RTI) Act, he asked Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation Ltd (GETCO), where his neighbour was employed as a driver, details about drivers employed and their salaries.
The reply brought out astonishing facts. There are 40 drivers without a vehicle , costing the state-run company more than Rs 60 lakh per year. "As per new pay scales, the salary bill of this idle staff will be more than Rs 1 crore," he says.
He was fed up with his neighbour making life difficult for him and his physically challenged wife. "He would put up obstacles outside our flat, common verandah and staircase, making mobility tougher for my wife. Also, being a government employee, he had contacts to ensure that no case would get registered against him," alleges Dave.
While GETCO reply reveals idle drivers getting paid for doing nothing, it also shows they are skilled and experienced. Collectively, they have 860 man years of experience at the company.
Most of them have been rendered idle as vehicles they once drove have been done away with. Some have been given part-time work of making entries in registers, but most have nothing to do.
"They've not been allotted fresh vehicles to drive. The least the government can do is to deploy them in another organisation such as GSRTC which can make good use of their skills and experience," says Dave.