THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Though the Kerala Urban Road Transport Corporation (KURTC), formed as a subsidiary of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), started functioning from November it is yet to receive the promised Central assistance.
The state has set up KURTC to operate and manage the 400 low-floor buses purchased with the financial assistance from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and it is still awaiting the 80 per cent Central assistance.
The government, however, is particular that the funds don’t get lapsed. The entire fleet of low-floor JNNURM buses, the services of which were operated by the KSRTC till now, have been brought under the KURTC.
‘’We are awaiting the fund to make the KURTC fully functional. The renaming was completed a month ago. It has nothing to do with the row over the name KSRTC involving Kerala and Karnataka. It was mandatory to bring the JNNRUM buses under KURTC if we were to receive Central assistance,’’ said Antony Chacko, KSRTC chairman and managing director, who also heads KURTC.
The crew of the JNNURM buses were also brought under KURTC. It had been decided to take the staff needed for operating the low- floor buses on deputation from the KSRTC. However, the financial viability of operating the buses will become clear only after the operations start in full swing.