ST buses may have become synonymous with uncomfortable and tortuous journeys, but this bus is an exception. And the sole credit for this goes to its conductor, Ansar Jagirdar.

On the outside, the bus looks like any other ST bus, with the insignia painted on the sides of its red body. But it is the inside that comes as a pleasant surprise. Red-cushioned seats with fans attached to every window, a lovely smell emanating from within, a carpeted floor and a mobile phone at your service. What's more, the fare remains the same - that of an ordinary ST bus.

Actually, this is not the first ST bus that has improved its services. One of the buses plying between Pune and Akole in Ahmednagar district completed a year of improved service on February 15. Unlike an ordinary bus, it has matting on the floor, cushioned seat covers, curtains, and a music system.

Says Kamlakar Pawar, depot manager, Pune, ``The State Transport undertook to revamp this bus on an experimental basis and the response has been very good. In that bus, only the audio system was paid for by the conductor, while the rest was borne by ST''.

But with the Ahmednagar-Pune bus that leaves Ahmednagar at 7.30 a.m. and Pune at 4.30 p.m., it is just the fans and matting that is paid for by ST. The rest is borne by the conductor, Jagirdar.

``I have often thought of how we could improve our service,'' he says. ``We have 37 people who travel regularly on this bus. And they always cribbed about how uncomfortable this bus was. So I decided to make their journey more comfortable''.

This involved cushioning the seats and putting fans and curtains on each window. And like private buses, have a music system installed. Jagirdar even added a mobile phone because of the hassles his passengers faced with rickshaw drivers.

``On our return trip, the bus reaches Ahmednagar late at night. Because of this, the rickshaw drivers exploit my passengers. They charge them Rs 50 to Rs 60, when the actual cost is something like Rs 10. So I thought that a mobile phone on the bus would enable them to call up their families and be picked up when the bus reached Nagar''.

All these amenities would surely put the bus into a deluxe category, but since the bus belonged to the ST, he had to seek their permission first. Jagirdar approached the depot manager (Ahmednagar), Hemant Bhalerao, z with his suggestion to improve the bus, which was approved.

Says Bhalerao, ``We could not undertake to provide all these amenities ourselves because we cannot improve one bus and ignore the others. We would have to do it for all the buses, which we cannot afford to. So we let Jagirdar go ahead with his plans''.

Though there are no rules by which ST drivers and conductors can operate a fixed bus, it often ends up that way. Says Bhalerao, ``Jagirdar and Ayub Khan have been with this bus for the past three years. As long as there are no complaints against a driver-conductor team, and they maintain the vehicle well, they continue on the same bus''.

While the ST provided the carpeting and the fans for the bus, the rest was left to Jagirdar. Says he, ``I took money from my savings to provide for the cushioned seats, the music system, curtains and the mobile phone. The phone cost me Rs 11,000 and the rest cost Rs 10,000''.

The ticket for this bus costs the same as any other ST bus - Rs 40 for a one-way trip. Only calls made on the mobile are charged as per the AT&T tariff of Rs 8 per minute. There are no commissions given to conductors except the overtime they get paid if the bus does a second trip. So what was it that compelled Jagirdar to invest his savings in this project? ``I have always felt indebted to the ST. My salary is Rs 9,000 with overtime, and after deductions, I take home Rs 8000. But household expenses for my family of three is just Rs 3,000, so I had a lot of savings. I have got so much from this job, that I wanted to repay the ST in some way.

``Years ago the ST had a monopoly. But ever since the private operators came, we have been running into losses. I feel that if we improve our services, we can give them a run for their money''.

It would be too soon to judge the difference these amenities have made to the ST's coffers, but going by their last Akole bus experiment, which had only fans and curtains, this venture seems promising.

As of now, bus number MH 12 UA 9695 has passengers clamouring for it. Not only is it filled to full seating capacity, it also takes in standees. After all, which conductor would spray air freshener in the bus or provide barf bags in a case of bad motion sickness?