Hyderabad: In addition to allowing a bus fare hike, the Chief Minister also showered the following sops on TSRTC to put it back on track. The state will extend Rs 300 crore to TSRTC to purchase 1,200 new buses.
The TS government will also release Rs 75 crore every month to the RTC to help it make up its existing losses of around Rs 2,275 crore.
TSRTC is incurring about Rs 500 crore on extending concessions on student bus passes, senior citizens, differently challenged etc. The government has decided to reimburse this amount regularly.The Chief Minister has directed GHMC to bear the losses incurred in the city region of TSRTC.
Mr K. Chandrasekhar Rao, while approving the power tariff hike, gave four main reasons for power distribution companies incurring huge debts and why they needed government and public support to come out of the debts.
As per the directions of the government to ensure quality power supply, Transco and Discoms spend Rs 2,144 crore to improve power distribution infrastructure like construction of sub-stations, laying of 33 KV, 11 KV, HT and LT lines in addition to the erection of power and distribution transformers.
To fulfil the promise of the government that there would be no power cuts, Discoms made short-term power purchase agreements with private producers at a high cost and spent another Rs 2,700 crore.
The government increased the salaries of the staff in power sector. The additional salary burden too fell on Discoms. Discoms spent another Rs 2400 crore for power infrastructure improvement to ensure 9-hour day time supply to the agriculture sector.
TSRTC unions to go on one day strike today
The Joint Action Committee of seven various unions in Telangana State Road Transport Corporation have decided to go on a one-day strike on Thursday, after rejecting the invitation from the RTC management for talks saying that only one union was invited to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s review meeting.
However, the impact of the strike is expected to be felt only in some districts.
In Greater Hyderabad limits, it is likely to be minimal or negligible since the majority union, the Telangana Mazdoor Union (TMU), is not taking part in the strike.
The unions on strike have strong presence in certain districts like Khammam and Nalgonda where the impact is expected to be more. JAC leader Raji Reddy said the JAC’s main demands are release of encashment bonds of last three years, exemption of MV tax to Palle Velugu buses and cracking the whip on private bus operators who are causing a Rs 1,000 crore per annum loss to RTC by operating as stage carriages in violation of rules.
TSRTC managing director G.V. Ramana Rao said efforts are on to operate all the bus services on Thursday. “Though the strike is only for one-day, we are leaving nothing to chance and are fully prepared to deal with the situation. Also, the strike impact is likely to be minimal or negligible as a majority of the employees are not in favour of the strike,” he said.
At a meeting organised by JAC of RTC unions elsewhere in the city, Prof. M. Kodandaram-led political Telangana Joint Action Committee threw its weight behind the TSRTC unions which are not happy with the Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao blaming employees for the losses the Corporation has been incurring.
Prof Kodandaram and Prof. Haragopal said it is the responsibility of the state government to protect the RTC and that it cannot compare profits in the private sector with the public sector.
RTC has sought government intervention to protect the Corporation at any cost.
RTC employees played a key role in Telangana statehood movement and TJAC will support them in their struggle to put it back on the profit-making tracks, the two professors said.
