HYDERABAD: To reduce operating costs and increase revenues, RTC continues to ‘streamline’ the buses within the city. In some depots it has drastically decreased the number of buses, while it has increased them in some others. However, the corporation staff is crying foul that the strategy being adopted to increase the patronage was taking a toll on them.
Officials say the buses were shuffled between different depots, but there was no reduction in the total numbers. “Since some normalcy has been restored post the pandemic and passengers’ confidence levels have risen, we sometimes reshuffle the buses between depots based on requirement” informed a RTC higher official.
The management aims to reach the daily target of `13 crore revenue to revive the transport behemoth, in contrast to the existing average of `10 crore per day across the State. But the corporation staff have questioned the rationality being adopted by the management. Despite the number of passengers having increased on certain routes, the number of buses on those routes were drastically brought down. In one such depot on the city’s outskirts, the number of buses have come down from 140 to 30, but the number of stages were nearly doubled from 14 to 29, which translates to more work for the staff. Sometimes, 200 passengers can be seen on board these buses during the peak hours.
“The strategy to regain lost patronage and take on private transport is taking a toll on the employees. Despite working for 10 hours at a stretch, we are unable to impress the depot managers, as they are pushing the limits for revenue generation,” said a senior staff member, on condition of anonymity.
As per the staff, mass transfers of staff members have become a norm. For instance, 130 staffers of BHEL depot were transferred in a phased manner, raising the question of depot’s future. Following closure of operations at Hyderabad 3 depot recently, rumours are ripe that even operations from Miyapur depot will come to a close and the staff there will be transferred to other depots.
Union leaders pointed out that in most of the depots, the situation remains the same. “If the management wishes to bring the corporation back on track, it should increase the number of depots, not decrease them. After the unions were sidelined, none are ready pay heed to the plight of employees,” said TSRTC Mazdoor Union president K Hanumanth.