On the road with

Dar’Sel’Jamshedpur to Delhi

1-8 June, 2015

PART TWELVE

RAMESH KUMARChairperson,

KRK Foundation +Co-Founder,

Transport Mitra Services

Naaya, dhoya aur chal pade (Bathed, Washed and Moved out) … from the holy city of Benares – Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency. City ugly, but with a clean river, yes. He’s trying to make it like what he did in Gujarat. Good luck. Everyone looks like a dacoit with gamcha (towel), wrapped around their heads – including policemen. There are many temples on this old Delhi-Kolkota highway.

Dealer explains his interest to do business with Darcl – just not fuel buying arrangement, but with a large parking lot for Darcl vehicles to park and rest.

The lifeline of India ….

Navbatpur again… Darcl pilots gladly receive us to share their joys and challenges

One of the main purposes of this 8 day road trip was also to IDENTIFY highway dhabas that cater to long haul pilots at some locations and bring them under Transport Mitra-scripted Dhaba Adoption Program (DAP).

What DAP is all about?

Good question ….

When YOU and I travel long distance by road, where do we halt for lunch/dinner?

A decent, airconditioned restaurant. Right?

Decent ambience. Good food. Cutleries. Chilled water. Nimbu paani for starters.

And finger bowls to clean our fingers and lips post lunch. Right?

By the way, where do our pilots stop for lunch/dinner?

At dhabas or roadside eateries.

Less said about their hygiene and food quality, the better. By the way, non-trucks will not stop at these eateries.

Are these long haul pilots NOT entitled to good food, decent surroundings, nice place to sleep? YES, they do.

Transport Mitra works along with OEMs and transporters working for them to create the RIGHT kind of wayside amenities for long haul pilots to rest, eat and sleep with decent toilet and washing facilities.

Instead of creating new wayside amenities, Transport Mitra advocates revamping the existing ones. That’s much easier than building from the scratch.

This is what DHABA ADOPTION PROGRAM is all about… and MUCH MORE…

As part of finding a suitable dhaba for adoption, we locate one near Nabatpur which incidentally is a favourite with Darcl pilots and engage the owner to know his likes and dislikes. Spacious enough to accommodate more long haul trucks, but without toilets. The owner shows interest to be part of the proposed Dhaba Adoption Program. It is strategically located on the edges of NH2 with bathing facility, shoe shop, mechanic tent, cloth pressing facility and transport pass making facility. Darcl pilots approve of this site. Half the job done.

Near Chandoli, on Uttar Pradesh-Bihar border, we are stumped by a beautiful BPCL Ghar – supposed to be a trucker-friendly dhaba. Excellent bathing & toilet facility, hair styling shop, provision store and an eatery….

Pintu Singh, owner of RK Food Point and National winner of Mahindra Transport Excellence Award for best trucker’’s dhaba, boasts of high footfalls from pilots. Significantly, there is no difference in food served for non-pilots and pilots, except non-pilots sit in an air-conditioned restaurant and eat the same food. Same menu, same kitchen. He charges differently for the ambience! .

All said and done, this is an excellent trucker-friendly dhaba. Yet, the bedding section for night halting drivers looks a bit jazzy. Doubtful whether pilots really shell out money to leave their vehicles at night to sleep in these beds.

Perhaps a night visit at sometime in the near future to know the truth is a necessity. Till then, full marks to BPCL’s Ghar initiative.

Meet Tuntun Paswan (in white headgear), a long haul pilot who regularly drives between Kolkota and UP towns carrying coal in one direction and anything else in the reverse.

This is his favourite halting point where he cooks at the dedicated shelter and eats with his colleagues. Why can’t he eat at Pintu’s dhaba? “Expensive,” responds he!

He loves car carriers, but not comfortable with parking and reverse. So, a big NO to car carriers…