CHENNAI: The transport department has proposed to recruit 812 driver-cum-conductors (DCC) for 5 State Transport Corporations in place of the conductor vacancies.

Many trade unions have opposed the move as they want drivers and conductors to be recruited separately.

The department preferred the appointment of DCC as it provided flexibility in operations. “If DCCs are recruited, 2 DCCs can be posted in the city or town buses to handle driver and conductor roles. Flexibility in staffing is not possible in the current model if drivers or conductors alone attend duties in more numbers. It’s also one of the reasons for more buses not being operated. The DCC is one such flexibility-based model since they qualify in both roles of driver and conductor,” the GO said.

Trade union leaders, however, said that the DCC recruitment allows the corporation to directly recruit instead of going to the TN Public Service Commission. After the recruitment scam during the previous AIADMK regime involving the then Transport Minister V Senthilbalaji, the Madras High Court ordered a transparent recruitment process through the TNPSC.

But, the commission had agreed to conduct the recruitment process for many posts including conductor and technical staff but not for drivers. Now, by direct recruitment, the conductor posts that should be recruited through TNPSC will be appointed by the corporation itself.

To avoid any irregularities, the unions want the transport department to scrap the proposal and recruit the drivers and conductors separately.