State fails to bail out PRTC

Gagan K Teja

Tribune News Service

Patiala, December 6

The state government has failed to follow the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The court had ordered the state government to issue a monthly grant of Rs 4.5 crore to Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) that is facing a financial crisis. The corporation has not even been able to pay the pension of its superannuated employees for the past four months.
Tired of holding dharnas, the pensioners recently filed a contempt case in the High Court as the PRTC management failed to meet their deadlines to pay pension yet again. Thereafter, Secretary, State Transport, had submitted an affidavit to the court, claiming the government would sanction a grant of Rs 4.5 crore to the PRTC each month for 18 months so the corporation could pay the pensioners’ dues.
Moreover, they were supposed to pay about Rs 21 crore each in November and December as reimbursement for the free travel passes provided to students and government employees on official duty. The monthly reimbursement for free bus travel is generally around Rs 6 crore. However, the government has failed to release even a single penny to the PRTC. The state government should have sanctioned Rs 31.5 crore for November.
Annoyed over the delay, the secretary of the PRTC Pensioners’ Association, Hari Singh Chamak, said the pensioners said the pensioners desperately needed money. “Three pensioners have already died following their inability to pay their medical bills. Now, the pensioners will hold a state-level protest at the Patiala bus stand and won’t
leave until their dues are paid,” he said.
Avtar Singh Brar, PRTC Chairman, confirmed that the state government hadn’t released the money as per the court’s directions.