BHUBANESWAR: The Assembly Standing Committee on Transport has recommended the State government dispense with the present practice of issuance of stage carriage permits to OSRTC buses by the State Transport Authority (STA) at par with private operators.
Expressing concern about the denial of permits to ply buses on certain routes, the State transport corporation had drawn the attention of the government and the issue was also widely discussed at the recent meeting chaired by Commerce and Transport Minister Tukuni Sahu.
OSRTC being a State Transport Undertaking (STU), should have state-wide permits for all its buses to fulfil the public demand by widening its services throughout the State, the Committee observed. Besides recommending the State government consider exemption of taxes on OSRTC buses, the Standing Committee has insisted OSRTC increase its fleet size by procuring new buses on yearly basis and suggested budgetary provision of Rs 213 crore for procurement of 410 buses during 2022-23.
As per the recommendation of the Ministry of Finance, the STU buses should be examined from the payment of MV Tax (Road Tax and Permit fees) to reduce their operational costs, thereby decreasing the loss and hence making the bus operations more sustainable, which will also result in lower passenger fare.
The Committee has recommended the immediate release of Rs 210 crore for the ongoing construction of 55 bus stands in 24 districts in Phase-I and the provision of Rs 500 crore for the construction of 100 more bus stands in Phase II on a priority basis for timely execution of all construction works taken up by OSRTC.
The panel after due deliberation on the need of providing technologically driven bus operations to citizens has advised for immediate implementation of Intelligent Transport Management System solutions by OSRTC and the Transport department has suggested releasing Rs 35 crore immediately. Similarly, for the GIS-based Asset Management System, the Committee has recommended the release of Rs 3.5 crore.
The Standing Committee has recommended budgetary provision of Rs 256 crore for clearing of long-standing arrear dues (including retirement claims) of OSRTC employees and immediate release of Rs 15.64 crore for clearing of arrear dues of 2,389 retired State Transport Services employees.
The committee has also suggested taking steps for admission of Odia students in Pilot Training at Bhubaneswar Airport and shifting of Dakota Aircraft lying at NSCBI Airport, Kolkata to BPIA, Bhubaneswar and renovating the same for display.