HYDERABAD: Ahead of the hearing on the TSRTC employees’ strike in the Telangana High Court on Thursday, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had a busy day on Wednesday, poring over various issues related to the strike, the line that the government counsels should take in court, and the roadmap on letting private players operate buses on more routes.In the afternoon, as directed by the court, Principal Secretary (Finance) P Ramakrishna Rao, TSRTC in-charge managing director Sunil Sharma and GHMC commissioner Lokesh Kumar filed separate affidavits, the contents of which will be defended by the government’s counsels when the hearing resumes on Thursday.
Chief Secretary SK Joshi has been asked by the court to appear in person and clarify on the dues the government owes the corporation. The essence of the three affidavits was that the state did not owe the TSRTC anything, but the corporation owed the government `540 crore in the form of MV tax dues piled up since 2017-18.The chief minister, at a review meeting with officials, discussed the TSRTC employees’ lukewarm response to his call to resume duty by midnight on Tuesday. According to sources, the government will watch how things pan out in court before deciding its next steps.
In related developments, the financial problems of the loss-making TSRTC were compounded further, with the high court ordering the it to pay `200 crore of the total dues of `411 crore to the RTC Employees Thrift and Cooperative Society Limited. Meanwhile, State Transport Authority secretary G Mamata Prasad served a notice on the RTC to immediately pay the government `452.86 crore as transport tax dues.
As for the court’s observation that the GHMC owed the TSRTC `1,492 crore, of which it paid only `335 crore, Ramakrishna Rao submitted that he did not state that the GHMC owes the said amount to the corporation, but that these are monies being claimed as dues from the GHMC. In fact, the amount released so far was more than the alleged dues payable to corporation, he said, asserting that the government paid the TSRTC `1,117.39 crore in 2018-19 and 2019-20 till October 31 this year.
‘Assistance based only on financial condition’
Sunil Sharma, in his affidavit, said the TSRTC received an excess amount of `897.40 crore from the government. With a view to request the new Transport Minister, P Ajay Kumar, after he assumed charge, to get more funds from the government to the corporation, which was running at a loss, it was shown that some amounts are yet to be released by the government, he said.
Due to a briefing with the minister during a presentation in September, and persuasion, the corporation received `455 crore till now (in financial year 2019-20) against a budget allocation of `550 crore for the full year, he added. While admitting that it was shown during a presentation to the minister that `1,492.70 crore was to be reimbursed by GHMC to the corporation, he said there was a mention in the presentation of the amount of loss sustained in Greater Hyderabad zone to be reimbursed by the GHMC. The corporation has been seeking reimbursement of the same from the GHMC from time to time, however, it is not a claim or something the GHMC owes the corporation, he asserted.
As for the GHMC, Sunil Sharma said the government recently said the GHMC was in a net deficit and not in a position to reimburse the loss of TSRTC, therefore, it does not owe or is not liable to pay any money to the corporation for 2018-19. GHMC commissioner Lokesh Kumar stated that assistance to the TSRTC can be provided only based on the financial condition of the GHMC, and also in the manner decided by the government from time to time.
The GHMC has a financial deficit of `768.20 crore in 2018-19, and this trend is continuing in the current year, hence it is unable to accept the TSRTC’s request to reimburse its losses in Greater Hyderabad limits. In fact, there is no commitment to reimburse all the losses as per the GHMC Act, 1955, he added.
‘Govt gave more than the `3K crore claimed’
The govt released `3,903.55 crore to the TSRTC since 2014-15, the principal secy (Finance) said. The money given by the govt is more than reimbursements towards concessions claimed by the TSRTC, which is `3,006.15 crore, he added