HRTC lacks drivers to run buses: Bali

Tribune News Service

Shimla, May 19

Transport Minister GS Bali today said the Himachal Roads Transport Corporation (HRTC) is facing an acute shortage of drivers and conductors as 25 per cent of posts are lying vacant. The HRTC has no operating staff to ply 276 buses out of 566 buses purchased under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

Addressing mediapersons here today, Bali said the HRTC has received 566 new buses out of 800 sanctioned under the JNNURM. Besides, the HRTC is running 146 new buses and 10 super luxury buses and four Volvo buses, but 25 per cent of posts out of 2,676 posts are vacant, he added.

If the HRTC gets enough operating staff, the corporation would cover the entire state increasing the bus services on routes which were overcrowded, he added.

The HRTC has generated an additional revenue of Rs 70 crore and collected Rs 1.5 crore from advertisements printed on the buses, he added. Talking about the initiatives taken by the Department of Technical Education and the Transport Department, Bali said various taxes, including goods and passenger taxes would be simplified into a uniform tax for the transporters and the draft would be placed before the Cabinet for approval.

The e-payment system had been launched, which had received Rs 35 lakh, while ultra-modern offices hadbeen set at Shimla, Solan and Dharamsala, he added.

The minister said the first batch of the Indian Institute of Management, Kala Amb, would start from Paonta Sahib in July, while the Jeori Engineering College would start functioning from Sundarnagar College this year.

The special purpose vehicle will be set up for the proposed hydro-engineering college at Bilaspur, he added.