VIJAYAWADA: A seven-member working group was constituted by the State government on Thursday to study and submit a plan of action by November 15 for the merger of Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) with the government.
The members of the working group are Additional Secretary (Finance) Ch VN Malleswara Rao, Additional Secretary (General Administration) V Siva Sankara Rao, Additional Secretary (Law) S Venkateswara Rao, Deputy Financial Advisor (TR&B) Ch Appala Seshu, Assistant Secretary (Public Enterprises) Gandla Sreenivasulu, Executive Director (Administration) APSRTC A Koteswara Rao and Assistant Secretary (Transport and R&B) Ch Venkateswara Rao.Venkateswara Rao will be the convener of the working group.
On June 14, the State government issued an order constituting two committees under the supervision of retired IPS officer C Anjaneya Reddy -- one to look into the possibilities of merger and the other to study the feasibility of replacing diesel buses with electric ones. The panels were asked to submit their report in 90 days. On September 3, committees submitted their report to Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. In the report, the committees recommended to the State government to form a separate public transport department with over 54,000 staff, enhance retirement age of staff to 60 years from 58, introduce electric buses in a phased manner and revise ticket fare in a transparent manner.
On October 11, the government again issued an order constituting a committee under the supervision of Principal Secretary (Transport and R&B) MT Krishna Babu to examine all aspects related to the APSRTC merger.
The committee headed by Krishna Babu convened a meeting on October 23 at the Interim Government Complex (IGC) in Velagapudi.
During the discussion on terms of reference for the merger, the committee members felt the necessity to form a working group to study the details of the terms of reference and monitor steps to be taken by various departments for the merger.
The working group will prepare an action plan on various subjects mentioned in ToR such as creation of public transport department, creation of posts and designations in the department, pay scales, service conditions applicable to various categories of employees, CCA regulations, takeover of establishment matters into AP CFMS for payment of wages and submit its plan of action to the committee headed by Krishna Babu on November 15.
Report by November 15
The working group will prepare an action plan on various subjects mentioned in ToR such as creation of public transport department, creation of posts and designations in the department, pay scales and submit its plan of action by Nov 15