HYDERABAD: The TSRTC told the Telangana High Court that the corporation has been financially stressed in spite of constant support from the State government and most of its expenses were towards establishment costs and diesel. The government has released the entire amount of Rs 644.51 crore to the corporation towards reimbursement of concession for the financial year 2018-19 and that the corporation agrees that it has been paid over and above the amount that is due to the corporation, it noted.
Pursuant to the earlier direction of the court, TSRTC in-charge managing director Sunil Sharma, who is also principal secretary to transport, filed additional counter affidavit in the PIL filed by R Subender Singh, student of Osmania University, seeking to declare the ongoing TSRTC strike as illegal.
On Oct 29, a division bench directed the in-charge MD to inform the court in the form of an affidavit about the reimbursement concession amount owed by the government to the corporation for 2018-19, amount of monies owed by the GHMC, whether GHMC has paid `335 crore out of the dues of Rs 1,492 crore and whether it agrees to the government’s claim that it has already repaid reimbursement concession amount for the year 2018-19 and that it has been paid over and above the amount that is due to the corporation from the government or not. The bench directed the in-charge MD to appear in court on November 1.
As for the GHMC’s dues, the in-charge MD, said that as per the GHMC Act, it is not committed to reimburse the losses of TSRTC for operations in Hyderabad city. Hence, the GHMC does not owe any amount towards reimbursement of its losses, he said.
With regard to the State government’s assistance to the corporation, he said that even though the government has released the money under different heads, the corporation has the flexibility to spend the amount on any activity as per its priorities. In the spirit of supporting the corporation, the State government has also extended the necessary financial assistance.
As for the ongoing strike, he said the corporation has earned Rs 78 crore from operation of buses between Oct 5 and 30 and incurred an expenditure of Rs 160 crore during the same period, thereby incurring a loss of Rs 82 crore. In spite of operational costs involved in running of RTC buses which are bringing in huge losses to the corporation as compared to private buses which are making profits, he noted.
JAC leaders meet Pawan Kalyan
The ongoing TSRTC strike saw new political support being sought as TSRTC JAC leaders met the leader of Jana Sena party Pawan Kalyan on Thursday. Kalyan has reportedly assured whole-hearted support to the aggrieved employees and stated that he would seek an appointment with Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao before November 3 Meanwhile, an all-party delegation sought Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan’s intervention. The delegation told the governor that since the Centre has 30 per cent share in RTC, the State government cannot take a unilateral decision in the issue
CPI leader ends hunger strike
CPI leader Sambasiva Rao, who was on an indefinite strike for the cause of TSRTC workers, broke it after five days on Thursday. The senior leader was met by an all-party delegation in the evening hours, who urged him to end his indefinite hunger strike which had begun on Oct 26.