Goa's buses: No country for old men

PANAJI: ManojSawant, 72, grits his teeth as his swollen knees get painfully jolted with every lurch of the bus. Holding a bag of vegetables in one hand and an umbrella under his armpit, he clings on to the railing behind the driver's seat of the private minibus, plying the KTC-Miramar-Taleigaon route.
The first two seats, supposedly 'reserved for the handicapped' are occupied by two able-bodied young men, and the next two seats, under the painted sign 'Resev for seeniar citizens only' are occupied by two college girls, talking animatedly.Unable to bear it anymore, Sawant approaches the girls and requests them to let him sit down. "Uncle, ask the men who are occupying the ladies seats on that side? Obviously there is no reservation in the bus, everybody sits wherever they can," retorts one of them.
"I did not really expect them to get up for me, nobody ever does," Sawant told this correspondent with a shrug. The conductor is too busy soliciting passengers and arguing with other bus conductors to notice. "Arrey madam, if these youngsters do not have the sense to get up, what can we do? We cannot be behind each and everybody, the seats are taken on first-come, first-serve basis," he snarls, when asked about the reserved seats.
Senior citizens get the raw deal on Panaji's buses-while young people do not voluntarily give up their seats for the elderly, the reservation of two seats for them is also a farce. With more and more seniors entrusted with chores like grocery-shopping and bill-paying by the working members of the family, it is important to make the public transport system more elderly-friendly. "If a minibus can only accommodate 10 to 15 people standing, the conductors try to cram in up to 20 people during rush hour. Forget giving us the seats reserved for senior citizens, the conductors sometimes physically shove older people, asking them to move to the back of the bus. If we protest, they tell us to get off and wait for an empty bus if we are uncomfortable," complains a retired government employee who now works part-time as a desk clerk. Seniors also complain that the drivers are reckless and impatient, unwilling to halt the bus completely when passengers are getting off.
Director of transport Arun L Desai admits, "The attitude of conductors and drivers manning the private buses is indifferent. We do conduct periodic inspections and if the seats reserved for the elderly are occupied by others, the conductor and driver are fined 100 each."Enforcement alone cannot change the situation. On Thursday, we conducted training for the first batch of conductors and drivers; teaching them interpersonal skills and the rules of the Motor Vehicles Act, covering issues like reservation. Hopefully, this will bring in a change of attitude," he says.