VIJAYAWADA: While the State government has appointed two panels to study the possibilities of merging RTC with the government and replacing diesel buses with electric ones, RTC employees are skeptical whether all the benefits enjoyed by them will continue after the merger and whether the government will bail the corporation out of the losses.
RTC Joint Action Committee (JAC) leader Ch Sundaraiah said that there is mention of discontinuing or merging RTC with the government in the Road Transport Corporations Act, 1950. “As per Section 38 of the Act, the State government can either take over RTC or undertake its maintenance for a period of time. Section 39 speaks about liquidation of RTC. If the State government considers the two sections for the merger, it has to get the Centre’s nod and the Act has to be amended in the Parliament,” he said.
The JAC leader added that the government should clarify whether it will continue all the benefits to the RTC employees even after the merger. “At present, RTC employees get bonus, overtime payment, ESI and other facilities as per the Motor Vehicle (MV) Act. But once the corporation is merged with the government, there are chances that these benefits might be ignored as the RTC staffers will then be regular government employees. For example, Gujarat RTC is run by their State government and employees enjoy nominal benefits,” he added.
“We hope that the two committees will project the actual situation of the corporation in their reports. I suggest that the committees study the reports of IIM and World Bank, that suggested replication of functioning of Kerala government-run RTC, before submitting their reports,” Sundaraiah said.
RTC has 11,678 buses in its fleet in 126 depots across the State. Around 8,964 buses are owned by the corporation, while 2,774 are hired buses. The corporation was categorised into four zones and 12 regions for ease of administration. As per government records, losses of the corporation are pegged at Rs 6,373 crore.
Of the two committees, the one formed to study the merger will comprise retired IPS officer D Anjaneya Reddy, principal secretary (Transport, Roads and Buildings) MT Krishna Babu, RTC vice chairman and managing director NV Surendra Babu. The other committee will have Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA), former MD V Bhakthavasthalam and Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), Hyderabad C Ramachandraiah on board.