Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 14 Keralam Transport Minister C P John on Wednesday urged MLAs to help expand the KSRTC fleet, saying the state-run corporation was gradually recovering from its financial crisis.
Speaking in the state Assembly, John said the corporation was not yet fully profitable but was moving towards a position where it could clear its outstanding dues and debts.
He urged every MLA to contribute at least two buses to strengthen the corporation’s fleet, noting that individuals and institutions had also voluntarily come forward to provide buses.
For the first time in Keralam’s history, contributions towards purchasing KSRTC buses had become a regular feature after Cabinet meetings, with the CM accepting cheques for the purpose, he said.
Over the past 10 years, Kerala State Road Transport Corporation had managed to add only around 1,300 buses to its fleet. The government was seeking support from MLAs to avoid the substantial financial burden of purchasing vehicles, the minister said.
The corporation had already received 70 buses through such contributions, he added.
John said KSRTC was ready to purchase buses and operate services under the Gramavandi scheme if local bodies agreed to pay the operating expenses in advance.
Ahead of the upcoming Sabarimala pilgrimage season, 100 old buses had been completely refurbished and made ready for service, in addition to the new vehicles.
KSRTC employees had renovated the buses to make them look almost new. The refurbishment had also helped reduce emissions from the vehicles by up to 30 per cent, John said.
The minister expressed concern over frequent disruptions to the Centre’s online portal for vehicle-related services, saying the outages were causing considerable inconvenience to the public.
The issue was raised with the Union Road Transport Minister soon after the UDF government assumed office, and the Centre had assured the state that it would be resolved within five to 10 days. However, the website continued to experience outages during daytime, he said.
The issue was also raised during a visit to New Delhi by a delegation led by the CM. The state government was continuing to intervene to resolve the problem rather than distancing itself from the matter, John said.
He said the functioning of Regional Transport Offices in the state had been made more efficient, with instructions issued for them to serve the public even after noon.
There was no restriction on paying fines for vehicle inspection-related violations online, and fines in cases not pending before courts could be paid through the online system, he said.
The minister assured the Assembly that complaints relating to certificates issued by vehicle dealers would be examined in detail.
(PTI News)
