10 of January 2020
WISHING
YOU and your team A HAPPY NEW YEAR
BACKGROUND OF THIS MATTER.
In 2017 I had sent an article I had written about KERALA STATE ROAD TRANSPORT CORPORATION to
the then Chief Secretary Smt. Nalini Netto on reading in the news papers
that KSRTC is in economic difficulties. (A copy of this
article is enclosed).Thereafter I got a call from Shri K R Jyothilal IAS
secretary to the dept of Transport Govt. of Kerala with whom I was in touch
eversince and he referred the issue to Shri M P Dinesh,IPS(Rtd) CMD KSRTC with whom I
had some interactions.
Based on the contents of the article I had developed a PPT presentation which was
sent to both the Transport Secretary and CMD-KSRTC. Some key excerpts from the
PPT are being discussed here which would provide inputs to further fine
tune KSRTC. Three hard copies of the
condensed PPT are being enclosed.
At the outset let me emphasize that KSRTC is a very well run
organization with high quality manpower and administrative stability and order
and also very punctual in its operations for which your team has to be
congratulated.
However as an end-user of KSRTC some of my observations I
discuss below and with this I would like
to close this matter that was commenced in 2017 .Kindly thank Shri K R Jyothilal and Shri M P Dinesh for having
interacted with me.
·
Slide
1 and 2 discuss the concept of a dysfunctional organization which simply means
feedback from end-users are not periodically collected to orient Operations.
·
Slide 3
provides a simple format to collect and assimilate customer feed
back.This can be collected from commuters through some formal procedure from
key Bus stations. The call centers also could contact commuters on their mobile
phones for their inputs.Such inputs can be used to take any corrective actions
if needed.
·
Slide
4 and 5 shows a VISION and MISSION
statement developed by me. There is already a VISION and MISSION statement of
KSRTC on the web site but does not touch upon Economic side of the
organization. The VISION and MISSION statement of KSRTC could be made more
conspicuous on the web site and also presented in the Malayalam language.
VISION and MISSION statement could be displayed( using some standard format of
background and scripting) across all bus stations and other depots of KSRTC in
English and Malayalam languages.
·
Slide
6 talks about training for staff and human resources initiatives. Two hours of
classroom training could be instituted for staff every year and training videos
could be sent by email and whatsapp to staff to go through. Training videos
could be uploaded on the web site.
·
Slide
7 talks about using the Japanese concept of Quality Circles at Bus stations.
Quality Circles are group of four to five people drawn from different domains
who meet formally or informally periodically to discuss events of the preceding
period, very often a month. Quality Circles must make at least one improvement
every month or even once in three months. Some chair in the bus station might
need welding and the Circle could talk to the concerned department and get it
welded. Any innovative form of improvement however small could be instituted
periodically. One improvement per month per station results in twelve
improvement a year and multiplied by 100 stations is 1200 improvements. Such
activities improve organizational stature. Japanese used to call such
activities KAIZEN.
·
Some
strategic partnership with the postal department could be considered to route some of their cargo through KSRTC.
·
Slide
10,11,12and 13 talk about the logo of KSRTC. The present logo of KSRTC is shown
in slide 11. Slide 12 shows an improvised version showing a road encrypted in
it. Such a logo positions KSRTC more as a transport corporation in the minds of
the public.Telengana State Road Corporarion has such a logo. The slide 13 shows
a further improved logo with a punch line “We Move The State”. Such
activities come under the gamut of “Brand Management” which makes the
organization perfectly positioned in the mind of stake holders and helps in
Competitive Advantage.
·
KARNATAKA
STATE ROAD TRANSPORT CORPORATION has done a good job at branding all its
classes of buses.To my observation Kerala SRTC is also doing the same. Slide 14
shows Ambari of Karnataka SRTC. Slide 15 shows the green colour bus of Kerala
SRTC which your drivers tell me are of TATA_BENZ make. It is a fantastic bus and
I call this “the poor mans VOLVO”.This bus is excellent for night travel except
for the engine noise prevents commuters from getting a good night’s sleep. Once
passengers enter the bus some innovative technique like a screen should shield
the drivers cabin reducing engine noise from entering the passenger area.This
class of buses could be branded with some distinct brand name. Slide 16 shows
the red colour Kerala SRTC bus which also could be given some distinct brand
name and small logo. Karnataka has a bus RAJAHAMSA which has a small logo
attatched to it.RAJAHAMSA in Kannada means the Swan of the King.
·
Slide
17 addresses the factors that influence Travel Quality. If buses are making
unacceptable vibration during travel some efforts must be made to control it
and bring it under limits or even jerks and noise. Some ingenuous extra
fittings could be considered to reduce such occurrences.
:Shri. TOM JOSE, IAS
CHIEF SECRETARY- GOVERNMENT OF KERALA
SECRETARIAT
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
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