Delay in salaries not a big deal: Telangana State Road Transport Corporation chief
HYDERABAD: Adding insult to injury for the TSRTC employees who have been demanding the increase in salaries, Chairman of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation Somarapu Satyanarayana Friday made shocking remarks stating that payment of salaries is not a big deal considering the losses in which the corporation is functioning.
The TSRTC chairman said, “Sometimes salaries paid to the employees are delayed by a day or two which is nothing big considering the fact that several other departments don’t give salaries for months altogether.”
Speaking at a press conference in Hyderabad on Friday, Satyanarayana added that the department was able to pay salaries despite functioning in losses of almost Rs 750 crores. Currently, the department is generating a revenue of Rs 11 crore and spending Rs 14 crore towards operating its fleet of buses. He said even an auto or a taxi cab or a Toophan vehicle has turned out to be their competitors. “The department was not getting enough funds from the government. During critical functioning, the government is aiding,” he said.
In the recent past, several drivers died allegedly due to an increase in work pressure and a refusal of giving leaves to the personnel by depot managers (DM). However, the chairman reiterated on the deaths saying, “The employees themselves were over-working and putting themselves to much stress. Several bus drivers and conductors are working for two continuous shifts as they are taking a whole day off, the following day.
This is similar to how police personnel work for two straight shifts to take a whole day off, the next day. We are planning to put an end to such practice as efficiency is compromised and risking the health aspect as well,” he said.
The call for reduced fuel emission is need of the hour but the department is unable to take the bio-diesel route as enough supply is not available. According to the Chairman, only 35,000 litres of B20 bio-diesel is being supplied to the department as opposed to the 1 lakh litre.
“Several changes in GST on biodiesel affected supply as companies backed off. We are looking for suppliers to sell us the eco-friendly fuel,” Satyanarayana said.
The 6,000 reservation of TSRTC buses every month has motivated the cash crunch department to link its e-ticketing services with T-Wallet, an official digital wallet application.