Hyderabad: Chief Minister KCR has decided to bring back TSRTC, which suffered losses due to Covid pandemic to the normal situation and to pay immediately two months 50% pending salaries of the TSRTC workers.
The CM instructed Principal Secretary (Finance) Ramakrishna Rao to immediately release Rs 120 Crore in this regard. The CM also decided to increase the by 50 percent of bus services in Hyderabad city. He also discussed providing job security to the TSRTC workers.
The CM held a high-level review meeting at Pragathi Bhavan here on Sunday on TSRTC. The CM said that the TSRTC was back on the track and was on road to earning profits when the Corona Pandemic hit. But yet we will revive the TSRTC,” the CM clarified.
The CM said,” The State government is protecting the State Public Sector Undertaking despite several difficulties. The government is providing security to lakhs of employees and their families of the State PSUs. The Telangana state government has opposed tooth and nail when attempts made by some to privatize the power sector. Moreover, the government has regularized thousands of contract employees of the electricity department. It protected the families of these employees.
On the other hand, the Centre is privatizing PSUs including the LIC. But yet, the state government is protecting its PSUs. I will not sleep till the TSRTC is put back on its track. I will protect TSRTC as long as I am here. Many employees and lakhs of their families are dependent on the
TSRTC Moreover, this is the cheapest transport network available for the poor. Hence, without thinking about the loss of profits that the TSRTC is making, we will protect it for the larger public interest. The government will financially assist the TSRTC. We have to pay immediately two months 50% pending salaries of the RTC employees. The finance department should immediately release Rs 120 Crore for this purpose,” the CM said.
TSRTC officials informed the CM that due to the Corona Pandemic and with people preferring to use the private vehicles, the occupancy rate of the RTC buses had come down drastically which resulted in the Corporation incurring heavy losses. The CM instructed the officials to take appropriate decisions and get over the difficulties created by Corona. He wanted officials to analyze what measures to be taken to make the RTC back to its Pre-Corona situation. The CM said the Cargo services introduced by the TSRTC have become a big hit and people are patronizing it. The CM hoped that like the Indian Railways, TSRTC would also earn profits through its Cargo services. The CM also expressed happiness over the TSRTC setting Million Parcel Transport record. KCR congratulated Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar and the officials concerned. Ajay Kumar and officials have thanked the CM for his instructions to hold talks with their counterparts in AP, which led to TSRTC getting lakhs of KMs of transport right.
“One by one institution are back on track from the Corona Pandemic situation. People are coming out. Services sectors like hotels and Dhaba are coming back to the business. People have started
moving. In this backdrop, find out and discuss at length what measures to be taken to make people patronize RTC once again,” the CM instructed.
The CM instructed that bus services in Hyderabad should be increased by 50 percent as it would help more people from the district to travel to Hyderabad and back.
Ministers Puvvada Ajay Kumar, Sabita Indrareddy, Rythu Bandhu Samithi State President Palla Rajeshwar Reddy, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, CM Principal Secretary S Narsing Rao, Principal Secretary (Finance) Ramakrishna Rao, Secretary (Revenue) Seshadri, CMO officials, MAUD Director Satyanarayana, Panchayat Raj Commissioner Raghunandan Rao, RTC senior officials and others participated.
