Motor transport was first regulated under the Indian Motor Vehicles Act, 1914 and Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 created regional and provincial Transport Authorities. They were authorized to grant permits for state carriages, public and private carriers, and to provide rule concerning timings, specifications of vehicles, standards of maintenance and other conditions under which holders of permits were expected to operate. The first batch of 6 Government buses run on the road on 24th March 1947.1
The only protection that the public needs is to provide freedom to the Road Transport Authorities to function independently to promote every number of vehicles and services on-every route.2 Each State has one State Transport Authority and as many Regional Transport Authority as the number of regions into which the State is divided for the administration.3 The authorities are appointed by the State Government. 4 The administrative set-up of the Transport Department in the State was reorganized with effect from 1st January 1950 when an amendment made in the Motor Vehicle Act 1945 came into force.5
In the transport department every political party has a labour wing affiliated to the political party. The recognized unions are affiliated with INTUC, AITUC, CPI, CITUC, MDMK, PMK and HMS.6 The transport department has a large number of employees both white caller official, staff and the workers, including drivers, conductor, and mechanical staff. In their capacity as workers they have their own association. Each political party moves the labourers to form trade unions affiliated to different political ideals. They play an important role during times of elections spending monetary and physical support to the respective political parties.
T.S. Ramasamy was one of the co-founders of the first trade union in the transport sector in Travancore. Muthukaruppa Pillai was the President. T.S. Ramasamy Pillai held the position of the Secretary of the Union. Nagercoil and Kanyakumari were parts of Travancore and State transport bus service was started first by linking Trivandrum and Nagercoil. Both the centres had large transport depots employing a vast number of employees. In those days K.L.S. Santhanam joined T.S. Ramasamy Pillai and worked for the union.
The State transport workers were labour centric enough to stand united under the union’s flag irrespective of their political colour. The first strike was held in 1947 on the issue of a foreman assaulting a cleaner. On hearing the incident the workers spontaneously struck work without a leader. Second strike was held in 1949 under the guidance of S.V. Muthukaruppa Pillai. The general strike of 1954 for authorities not responding to the demands made by State transport employees was a great milestone in the trade union movement of the region. T.S. Ramasamy and other union leaders including K.L.S. Santhanam were determined to go ahead with the strike. Buses stopped plying. The Minister Panampalli Govinda Menon was forced to reach a settlement and the strike was withdrawn. The salary of the employees was raised and daily bata was introduced for operating staff.16 Before 1956 Travancore Government declared that it was fully convinced that transport was a fundamental and supreme national necessity. According to Travancore State Manual, the selection of the operating staff deserved special mention. Drivers were selected exclusively from among those who were working on the Trivandrum – Kanyakumari route which at that time was being operated by private motor transport companies.7 After the State reorganization the Travancore State Transport Workers Union was called as Nellai Kumari Mavatta Motor Workers Union.
From 1965 to 1971 K.L.S. Santhanam was the Vice-president of the union. The famous Labour Union Leader R.K. Ram was the president. In latter days this union got split into various unions. In the same time he was the president of the Kumari Mavatta Porul Payanikal Pokkuvarathu Goods Loading & Unloading Workers Union. That union’s registration number was 300 K.K.M and affiliated with A.I.T.U.C.
After 1956 Kanyakumari District came under the purview of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation. The Government Bus Driver’s Union was started. From 1963 to 1965 K.L.S. Santhanam was the secretary of the union and R.K. Ram was the president. In 1962 the Motor Labourers Union was started. K.L.S. Santhanam was with the union for more than 10 years along with C. Sankar and R. Somasundaram. In later years K.L.S. Santhanam himself became the president of the union.
The private motor transport industry in Kanyakumari was under the control of a few bus owners and their companies like Pioneer Motors and Ganapathy Motors. In the early years the working hours of the motor transport workers were from 6 a.m to 2 a.m with uncertain and irregular rest intervals between them. Wages were extremely low and no bonus was paid. K.L.S. Santhanam took the initiative to form the Kanyakumari District Private Motor Workers Union. He served as the president and Bharathipithan was the secretary.8 Bharathipithan was also the secretary of the Kanyakumari District Government and Private Transport Retired Labourers Union in Kanyakumari. The Union launched a struggle that lasted for more than hundred days. According to Bharathipithan, K.L.S. Santhanam’s activeness, hard work and energy impressed him to strive hard. In order to strengthen the union, K.L.S. Santhanam gave his own money to the labourers to remit the amount to the membership fee of the union to become the members of the union. After continues agitation, all those private workers services had been terminated by the bus owners.
Another agitation was against Pioneer Motors led by K.L.S. Santhanam. Picketing was held at Boothapandy. Police action followed resulting in the arrest of Santhanam and the agitators. The case was tried at Boothapandy court. From the Government side advocate Krishnankutty appeared and K.L.S. Santhanam represented the workers. The union got justice.
In 1967 an agitation was led by him to appoint the private motor workers as government transport workers. Police arrested and jailed him for one month and he went into a hunger strike. He was the Vice-president of All Tamil Nadu Private Motor Workers Union. K.T.K. Thangamani was the president and K.M. Sundaram was the secretary.9 A number of private transport labourers became the State transport employees due to K.L.S. Santhanam’s hard work.
Till his death K.L.S. Santhanam was the president of Tamil Nadu Transport AITUC Workers Union. On 31.12.2002 Tamil Nadu Transport Madurai Region Limited All Party Workers Union met at Nagercoil and made procession against government norms and submitted a memorandum to District Collector. In that memorandum they mentioned bus routes, welfare scheme which were approved to be implemented.10
In 2002 the Tamil Nadu Government tried to hand over the Government transport to private sector. All Party Transport Workers Union members met at Meenakshipuram on 31.12.2002 and proceeded to Collectorate. K.L.S. Santhanam also participated.
K.L.S. Santhanam led an agitation of Tamil Nadu Transport Workers Union at Ranithottam [Reg.No.161/KKM] Nagercoil on 19-12-2003 in front of the bus depot raising a charter of demands which included
i) To start the negotiation for the wages of the contract transport workers immediately.
ii) To implement High Court judgment, G.O.378.
iii) To sanction pension for retired employees from April 2003 onwards
iv) To Free Bus pass for retired transport employees.
v) When workers died in duty period, give job for their heirs
vi) To avoid privatization of transport
vii) Introduce more buses and appoint more workers.
K.L.S. Santhanam is also part of the Tamil Nadu State Transport Retired Employees Association.
In 17 October 2002 Retired Transport Employees Association Welfare Committee members agitated rising many demands prominent among that was lifelong free bus pass for the retired transport employees. K.L.S. Santhanam led it from the front.11
Government Transport All Party Unions conducted an agitation demanding to take action against share auto and private mini buses under the leadership of K.L.S. Santhanam on 24.6.2005 and submitted a memorandum to Collector in this regard.
Tamil Nadu Government Transport Workers Union (AITUC) meeting was held on 28.6.2005 at Nagercoil.12 K.L.S. Santhanam presided over the meeting. They demanded the Government to replace the old buses with new buses and to provide adequate buses for the village areas. A meeting of Tamil Nadu Government Transport Retired Employees Welfare Association was held at Nagercoil on 31.6.2005. The legal advisor of the association K.L.S. Santhanam presided over the meeting.13
– Dr. T. Anitha
Assist. Prof. of History, Sree Ayyappa College for Women, Chunkankadai, Nagercoil.
References
1. Srinivasan J., State Transport“, Madras Information, Madras, Vol. XVI, No.2, Feb1961, pp.50-51
2. Ramanadhar, V.V., Economics of Road-Rail Policy, Madras, 1957, p.257.
3. Committee on Transport Policy and Coordination Final Report ,Government of India, Planning Commission New Delhi, January 1966, p.81
4. Regional Transport Survey of Madras and Pondicherry, Natural Council of Applied Economic Research, New Delhi, October 1967, p.1
5. Madras State Ad Report 1955-56, Madras, 1957 p.28.
6. Nilakanda Perumal, A Hindu Reformation, Madras, 1937, pp.24-25
7. T.K. Velu Pillai, The Travancore State Manual, Vol III, Government of Travancore TVM, 1940, p. 495.
8. V.S. Bharathipittan, Maniviza Malar, Kootar, Nagercoil, 1992, p.63.
9. K.L.S. Santhanam Oru Sila Pulli Vivarangal, Op. cit., p.43.
10. Tamil Nadu Government Transport (Madurai Kottam III) Ltd, Nagercoil All partyunion meeting hold and submitted the memorandum, dated 31-12-2002. (Pamphlet).
11. Tamil Nadu Government Transport (Madurai Kottam III) Ltd, Nagercoil All party union meeting hold and submitted the memorandum, dated 31-12-2002. (Pamphlet)
12. Minutes book of the union, dated 28.6.2005.
13. Dinamalar, The Daily, dated 1.7.2005.