The Industrial Scientist G.D.Naidu ( 1893 - 1974 ) was a multi faceted pioneer. His contribution to the bus transport sector can never be measured. The buses plied by Naidu ensured that the economy of the region grew faster than other parts of the South. Young G.D.Naidu had suffered losses at Bombay and therefore he returned to Coimbatore. He started life from scratch by joining up as an employee in a restaurant near the railway level crossing on Avinashi Road. In order to learn English, G.D.Naidu joined the Stanes household on Trichy Road.
The Industrial Scientist G.D.Naidu ( 1893 - 1974 ) was a multi faceted pioneer. His contribution to the bus transport sector can never be measured. The buses plied by Naidu ensured that the economy of the region grew faster than other parts of the South. Young G.D.Naidu had suffered losses at Bombay and therefore he returned to Coimbatore. He started life from scratch by joining up as an employee in a restaurant near the railway level crossing on Avinashi Road. In order to learn English, G.D.Naidu joined the Stanes household on Trichy Road. He used to help Mrs.Stanes in the kitchen and deposit his income with her regularly. On learning about this, Stanes wanted to know the purpose behind the accumulation and G.D.Naidu told him that he wanted to buy a bus with his savings. Stanes told him that it will take a long time to purchase a bus and offered a bus provided he repay his dues on a day to day basis. As a consequence of this offer G.D.Naidu got 1 bus in the year 1921 and it became 2 by the very next year. The fleet grew to 23 in the year 1924. The UMS ( United Motor Service ) had 280 buses by the year 1933 and G.D.Naidu was recognized as a bus transport pioneer in India thereafter. G.D.Naidu learnt much about the mechanical aspect of the buses while serving in the Stanes household. He was the owner, driver, conductor and cleaner during his early days. The hard working Naidu became a by word for diligence, cleanliness and punctuality. Naidu had also acquired a lot of mechanical knowledge while spending time at the residence of Stanes and this helped later.
G.D.Naidu had the ability to identify mechanical problems in his buses from the mere sound of the running engine. He adopted proper methods to hire drivers and did much to train them for the wheel. He would state that the focus of the driver must be on the road and there was no point regretting after an accident. The life of people was very important and traffic analysis while driving was the key. It was necessary that the bus driver was aware of every pothole and curve before hand in order to make sure that the passengers did not suffer jolts. G.D.Naidu travelled incognito ( like the ancient Caliph Harun Al Rashid ) on buses and made sure that mistakes were addressed immediately. He used to ensure that the desks of his office clerks were kept neat and clean. The industrial scientist purchased books and other publications connected with automobiles with the idea of making his business better and profitable. He travelled abroad to study the London Bus Service in the UK and Greyhound in the USA. There was a strict timetable that was followed and the emphasis was on punctuality. Buses used to wait until the 'shouter' boys got enough crowd for travel. However G.D.Naidu ensured that the buses moved on time even at times when the passengers were small in number. People began to trust him because of punctuality and also the also the level of hygiene that was maintained in the buses. Bus cleaners were employed for the purpose of cleaning the buses through the day.
The Auto Transport man G.D.Naidu used to place advertisements in the newspapers and they would contain statistics about the number of passengers who used his buses, details of accidents and breakdowns etc., Since problems were negligible, he could proudly publish the figures. The advertisements used to state that a passenger could be rest assured that his clothes would be spotless when he disembarked from Naidu's bus. He also paid a lot of attention to bus terminals too. The terminals were laid with mosaic tiles while the flush toilets had glazed tiles embellishing them. In fact, the hygiene of the bus terminals maintained by G.D.Naidu attracted the attention of the Kuntz couple from Germany in the year 1926 and they preferred to stay put there instead of a hotel. The invitation extended by them to Germany marked the beginning of Naidu's desire to travel abroad. The year 1933 was bad for the transport sector and many companies suffered losses. G.D.Naidu organized a conference of bus owners and suggested that they work together as a team. More than 600 buses joined the venture.
The UMS owned Palladam terminal was hailed as the largest in the country. Those days he spent over a lakh of Rupees for the Palladam terminal and he tried to replicate the same in Palakkad too but it did not happen due to bureaucratic reasons.The terminals had canteens, sleeping rooms, drinking water and toilets for passengers. The buses plied about 15000 miles per day and about 10000 passengers used the UMS buses everyday. More than 1000 people were employed by G.D.Naidu in his bus transport business. G.D.Naidu was quite strict with his employees and people had to turn up on time and sign the register. Employees who were unwell were fined Rs.10 if they turned up for work. G.D.Naidu revolutionized the transport business by introducing numerous automated systems like time keeping machines and ticketing machines. The methods used by G.D.Naidu helped him to keep track of the day to day work at UMS besides ensuring honesty and sincerity among his employees.
The time table was quite innovative for it used to include details about the temples and temple festivals which came within the bus routes. Details of the weekly market or shandy was also included. If required, extra buses used to be put on the routes at the times of temple festivals. This approach boosted the revenues of UMS. Several transport companies tried to emulate Naidu but did not achieve success like him for he was sincere, committed and hard working. There were situations when all the profits were distributed as staff bonus. Sometimes a couple of drivers were gifted the buses they drove and this made them bus owners. G.D.Naidu sent four of his assistants to scout for his former employees for the purpose of handing over their due compensation. G.D.Naidu participated in the events connected with his employees and made sure that the money earned by the bread winner was used properly.
Biographer Nilkan Perumal showers encomiums on G.D.Naidu. He states that there was a Chief for each department and a General Manager for the company while the governing policy was in the hands of G.D.Naidu. He employed Englishmen in his ventures. The bus transport man was greatly appreciated by S.R.N. Badri Rao in his Road Rail Transport which used to be edited by Dr.B.V.Narayanaswamy Naidu those days. According to the rules governing their employment, workers were not supposed to retaliate in case of misbehavior by a passenger. He used to work between 9 PM and 1 AM in the nights at UMS. In the UMS office he had files related various topics like Friendship, Police, A C F R ( Appreciation, Courtesy, Flattery and Reality ), How to set buffaloes in line, How to extract Work, My blunders, My Mohammad Bin Tughlak etc., Once there was a talk about socialization, running of buses by the administrators those times. In spite of being an entrepreneur G.D.Naidu suggested to the District Board to run the transport lines in the District on one condition that the profits be used for industrial education. It did not work out. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru came up with the planning commission and V.V.Giri who headed the Ministry of Labour requested G.D.Naidu to join in. Sir M.Viswesvarayya had felt and stated that he was extremely knowledgable . V.V.Giri invited G.D.Naidu to sit in his capacity as a transport specialist and even visited him personally in order to urge him.. However G.D.Naidu never sat on the committee. During those halcyon days, G.D.Naidu wanted to establish an automobile factory which could churn 1000 automobiles per month. Government apathy came in the way of his initiatives.
The education, industrial and commercial boom in Coimbatore and its neighbourhood got accentuated because of the transport infrastructure created by G.D.Naidu. His son G.D.Gopal and grandson G.D.Rajkumar must be applauded for preserving all the records pertaining to G.D.Naidu meticulously. Had G.D.Naidu been given a freer hand, the transport sector would have grown by leaps and bounds even during the early years of freedom. All round growth would have our economy the top one globally. A nice oppourtunity to grow alongside Europe, the Middle East, Japan and Korea was missed by leaders of our newly free India.
The management practices, technical innovations and cash flow methods of G.D.Naidu made UMS a model transport venture. The availability of this kind of transportation facilities gave the oppourtunity for the people of the Coimbatore region to mobilize themselves profitably.
G.D.Naidu had the ability to identify mechanical problems in his buses from the mere sound of the running engine. He adopted proper methods to hire drivers and did much to train them for the wheel. He would state that the focus of the driver must be on the road and there was no point regretting after an accident. The life of people was very important and traffic analysis while driving was the key. It was necessary that the bus driver was aware of every pothole and curve before hand in order to make sure that the passengers did not suffer jolts. G.D.Naidu travelled incognito ( like the ancient Caliph Harun Al Rashid ) on buses and made sure that mistakes were addressed immediately. He used to ensure that the desks of his office clerks were kept neat and clean. The industrial scientist purchased books and other publications connected with automobiles with the idea of making his business better and profitable. He travelled abroad to study the London Bus Service in the UK and Greyhound in the USA. There was a strict timetable that was followed and the emphasis was on punctuality. Buses used to wait until the 'shouter' boys got enough crowd for travel. However G.D.Naidu ensured that the buses moved on time even at times when the passengers were small in number. People began to trust him because of punctuality and also the also the level of hygiene that was maintained in the buses. Bus cleaners were employed for the purpose of cleaning the buses through the day.
The Auto Transport man G.D.Naidu used to place advertisements in the newspapers and they would contain statistics about the number of passengers who used his buses, details of accidents and breakdowns etc., Since problems were negligible, he could proudly publish the figures. The advertisements used to state that a passenger could be rest assured that his clothes would be spotless when he disembarked from Naidu's bus. He also paid a lot of attention to bus terminals too. The terminals were laid with mosaic tiles while the flush toilets had glazed tiles embellishing them. In fact, the hygiene of the bus terminals maintained by G.D.Naidu attracted the attention of the Kuntz couple from Germany in the year 1926 and they preferred to stay put there instead of a hotel. The invitation extended by them to Germany marked the beginning of Naidu's desire to travel abroad. The year 1933 was bad for the transport sector and many companies suffered losses. G.D.Naidu organized a conference of bus owners and suggested that they work together as a team. More than 600 buses joined the venture.
The UMS owned Palladam terminal was hailed as the largest in the country. Those days he spent over a lakh of Rupees for the Palladam terminal and he tried to replicate the same in Palakkad too but it did not happen due to bureaucratic reasons.The terminals had canteens, sleeping rooms, drinking water and toilets for passengers. The buses plied about 15000 miles per day and about 10000 passengers used the UMS buses everyday. More than 1000 people were employed by G.D.Naidu in his bus transport business. G.D.Naidu was quite strict with his employees and people had to turn up on time and sign the register. Employees who were unwell were fined Rs.10 if they turned up for work. G.D.Naidu revolutionized the transport business by introducing numerous automated systems like time keeping machines and ticketing machines. The methods used by G.D.Naidu helped him to keep track of the day to day work at UMS besides ensuring honesty and sincerity among his employees.
The time table was quite innovative for it used to include details about the temples and temple festivals which came within the bus routes. Details of the weekly market or shandy was also included. If required, extra buses used to be put on the routes at the times of temple festivals. This approach boosted the revenues of UMS. Several transport companies tried to emulate Naidu but did not achieve success like him for he was sincere, committed and hard working. There were situations when all the profits were distributed as staff bonus. Sometimes a couple of drivers were gifted the buses they drove and this made them bus owners. G.D.Naidu sent four of his assistants to scout for his former employees for the purpose of handing over their due compensation. G.D.Naidu participated in the events connected with his employees and made sure that the money earned by the bread winner was used properly.
Biographer Nilkan Perumal showers encomiums on G.D.Naidu. He states that there was a Chief for each department and a General Manager for the company while the governing policy was in the hands of G.D.Naidu. He employed Englishmen in his ventures. The bus transport man was greatly appreciated by S.R.N. Badri Rao in his Road Rail Transport which used to be edited by Dr.B.V.Narayanaswamy Naidu those days. According to the rules governing their employment, workers were not supposed to retaliate in case of misbehavior by a passenger. He used to work between 9 PM and 1 AM in the nights at UMS. In the UMS office he had files related various topics like Friendship, Police, A C F R ( Appreciation, Courtesy, Flattery and Reality ), How to set buffaloes in line, How to extract Work, My blunders, My Mohammad Bin Tughlak etc., Once there was a talk about socialization, running of buses by the administrators those times. In spite of being an entrepreneur G.D.Naidu suggested to the District Board to run the transport lines in the District on one condition that the profits be used for industrial education. It did not work out. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru came up with the planning commission and V.V.Giri who headed the Ministry of Labour requested G.D.Naidu to join in. Sir M.Viswesvarayya had felt and stated that he was extremely knowledgable . V.V.Giri invited G.D.Naidu to sit in his capacity as a transport specialist and even visited him personally in order to urge him.. However G.D.Naidu never sat on the committee. During those halcyon days, G.D.Naidu wanted to establish an automobile factory which could churn 1000 automobiles per month. Government apathy came in the way of his initiatives.
The education, industrial and commercial boom in Coimbatore and its neighbourhood got accentuated because of the transport infrastructure created by G.D.Naidu. His son G.D.Gopal and grandson G.D.Rajkumar must be applauded for preserving all the records pertaining to G.D.Naidu meticulously. Had G.D.Naidu been given a freer hand, the transport sector would have grown by leaps and bounds even during the early years of freedom. All round growth would have our economy the top one globally. A nice oppourtunity to grow alongside Europe, the Middle East, Japan and Korea was missed by leaders of our newly free India.
The management practices, technical innovations and cash flow methods of G.D.Naidu made UMS a model transport venture. The availability of this kind of transportation facilities gave the oppourtunity for the people of the Coimbatore region to mobilize themselves profitably.