No entry to toilets. Go away, drivers!

 Driver Kush Singh with the author

Ramesh Kumar from Greater Noida

You've no reason to know Senator Glenn Sterle of Labor Party in Down Under. Australia, I mean. He is a truck driver-turned-parliamentarian in the land of Kangaroos. Like our own VRL Chairman Vijay Sankeshwar, who served the 13th Lok Sabha (1999-2004) during the Atal Behari Vajpayee-led National Democratic Alliance regime, representing Hubli parliamentary constituency in Karnataka. I have no idea nor checked if he had raised transport-related issues in the House during his tenure. 

But Senator Sterle is focused because he is the Shadow Assistant Minister for Road Safety in Western Australia. Mind you, the "Shadow Assistant Minister"  means he is not a member of Treasury benches but in the Opposition. Early September, he pulled up the government for not providing toilet facilities for truckers on the highways. 

He wrote: "Heavy vehicle decoupling facilities are workplaces for our truck drivers. This facility has 30 bays for decoupling and no time limits for trailer parking. Do you not understand that truck drivers are going to be there at all times? How do you think a driver would feel when they find that there isn't a toilet for them to use once they've finally found a park? 

When asked further about accessing toilet facilities... your department suggested that if drivers needed to use a bathroom, they could use the facilities at a different service station a further 8.5 km down the road. ... I wonder how public servants in your department would feel if they were told that there were no toilets at their work and that if they needed to use the bathroom, they would have to drive down the road to find some facilities?"

I, for one, believed that Indian authorities are heartless in their dealings with transport vertical in general and truck drivers in particular. Senator Sterle opened my eyes amply demonstrating the government-truckers equation is no different. Heartless and unsympathetic, equally. 

On the evening of 24 June 2016, when I boarded MH 15 EG 5534 Mahindra Traco tractor-trailer with the split load of Renault Kwid for Agra and Gurugram from the Oragadam plant, I did not bargain for the drama that would unfold before the nightfall same day. It was the pre-GST era and hence the Japanese-French joint venture automaker was transferring its finished vehicles to the neighboring Andhra Pradesh state to avail of tax benefits before dispatch. 

This arrangement entailed the cargo moves into Renault-owned yard at Chitoor in the undivided Andhra Pradesh before billed. Around eight we docked at this yard awaiting the invoice preparation formalities. This is where the drama began. I got out, informing driver Kush Singh that I need to empty my bowels.  He handed over an Aquafina bottle filled with water. 

"What for?" I asked. 

He explained. 

I was shocked. A few months ago, I had visited the same yard soon after its inauguration at the invitation of Wallenius Wilhelmson Logistics, which was managing the yard for Renault. I was taken around the facility including the Driver Rest Room with attached toilets etc. Yes, I was impressed with the company's interest to address one of the basic needs of drivers. 

Therefore, I was shocked when the Aquafina bottle was thrust into my hands. What happened to the toilets? Has it been demolished or under repair? I was told that it is operational but drivers are barred; drivers have to exit the yard and go into the bushes outside to complete the task of emptying the bowel. 

I ignored the bottle and moved to the admin complex where the toilet was situated. I was halted by a WWL executive saying that the toilet is for office staff use and not for driver and kalasis. By the way, I was in my knickers and T-shirt resembling a driver's assistant. His superior was pulled out of his home and he recognized me because he was the one who toured me the previous time. Rules are rules and he cannot alter, he argued. Sensing trouble, our truck paperwork got completed swiftly and we were out. Of course, I completed the bowel task in the driver's room premises only! 

On the completion of the trip a week later, I wrote to Renault Nissan management about this toilet tussle. How can you deny this basic facility at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was canvassing the Swatch Bharat Abhiyaan? was my line of argument.

Nothing happened. Then mails flew to the Member of Legislative Assembly representing Chittoor. Silence again. Next a letter to the then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. No progress. Then to the Prime Minister's Office and to the Joint Secretary Parameshwaran Iyer. All copies were marked to Renault Nissan management. In fact, I wrote to then Renault chief Carlos Ghosn also, asking him whether he would deny French drivers access to toilets at his yards. Pas de reponse!

Almost after a month's time, I found a mail with photo attachments of the Chittoor yard driver rest room being used by drivers from Renault Nissan. Meanwhile, the logistics team of this Japanese-French joint venture send feelers that I should desist from raking up this toilet issue. I did not listen but remained focused. 

Highway amenities were never a priority for the government. Though a lot of lip service is done. State-owned retail fuel outlets dotting the highways denied access to truck drivers despite a major chunk of their revenue came from selling diesel to the trucking segment. I had the misfortune of hearing a mandarin in the transport ministry in Delhi jokingly remarking that drivers suffer from claustrophobia and they prefer "dumping" in the open! The less said about the National Highway Authority of India's Highway Nests - Mini or Macro - the better! No takers and not adequately promoted. Non-functional as well.