BENGALURU: CHIEF Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday called upon transport corporations across the state to check pilferage in order to shore up their revenues.
Speaking at an event organised at the Vidhana Soudha to launch 241 hi-end City buses for the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, Siddaramaiah elaborated on the recently announced 12.5 per cent hike for employees of state-run transport corporations.
“This is a historic hike. For every 1 per cent increase effected, the government needs to spend `150 crore. It is now everyone’s responsibility to ensure that pilferage is kept under check,” he said. The transport corporations have recruited 26,600 personnel in the last three years,” he added.
Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy charged that while the UPA government shared 80 per cent of the costs involved in projects when it was at the helm at the Centre, the BJP government only shared 50 per cent of the costs.
“KSRTC has received 64 national and international awards in the last 38 months and 131 awards till date for its performance,” he said.
A total of 241 out of the proposed 637 buses were launched today. These buses will ply in Mysuru, Tumukuru, Hassan, Mandya, Ramanagara, KGF, Kolar, Davanagere, Bhadravathi, Shivamogga, Chitradurga, Mangaluru and Udipi.