Andhra Pradesh   

Enforcement wing for RTC to be created

Special Correspondent

New set-up to check illicit plying of contract carriages ; corporation permited to close depots in losses

HYDERABAD: An enforcement wing will be created in the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation to curb illicit plying of contract carriages by private operators on routes allotted to it in order to avoid loss of revenue. To start with, 49 assistant brake inspectors will shortly be recruited through the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission in line with a recent Cabinet decision.

Transport Minister K. Lakshminarayana announced this at a press conference here on Tuesday highlighting the series of steps taken by the State Government as part of a long-term strategy to strengthen the APSRTC. He said operational flexibility had now been allowed to the corporation to close loss-making routes and open new depots where required.

Denying a charge by Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu, he said the APSRTC had offered its land to private parties for development on build-operate-transfer(BOT) basis but not for sale. This had no connection with APSRTC claiming Rs. 150-crore profit for 2005-06, he added.

Referring to newspaper reports that bus routes were being privatised, the Minister said 104 new routes, indeed, were proposed for being offered to private operators in Anantapur and Chittoor districts.

However, this was "very much in line" with the Centre's guidelines that 5 per cent of the bus services in a town area must be offered to private operators, leaving 95 per cent for pubic sector undertakings.

At the hearings held in Anantapur district, the APSRTC had raised objections regarding 18 out of 22 routes notified. The final decision would be taken based on Collector's report. If family members of Panchayat Raj Minister J. C. Diwakar Reddy had applied for the routes, it was "incidental".

Mr. Lakshminarayana said there was no ulterior motives behind withdrawal of the services on 100 routes of the SETWIN (Society for Employment & Training in Twin Cities). He said buses in 75 routes were condemned by the Transport Department while the beneficiaries dropped out on their own in 25 routes following accidents. However, efforts were on to purchase new buses for SETWIN and re-start the services.

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