THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) board has armed the management with more financial powers. The chairman and managing director of KSRTC can now purchase store items worth up to Rs 1 crore subject to ratification from board later. Similarly, the executive director (Technical) can sanction a purchase up to Rs 10 lakh and the controller of purchase and stores can clear Rs 4 lakh.
The enhancement of purchase limit is likely to improve the operational efficiency of the corporation by making prompt payment to suppliers, said a senior KSRTC official.
According to him, delay in getting sanction from the board to clear the dues of buses will affect operations as it had happened in the case of a fleet of AC buses. Private agencies that undertake maintenance works demand prompt payment for continued support.
Running more buses by effectively utilising resources at hand is the task taken up by the KSRTC management to stabilise its finances. It has a fleet of 6,300 buses and 44,000 employees. With a debt of over Rs 3,000 crore, KSRTC is trying to make its operations efficient by reducing schedule cancellations.
It is nearing its target of reducing the number of buses on the dock for maintenance to under 500 in 3-4 months time. In the past one year, the percentage of buses on the dock has come below 10 per cent, to 523.