75 new services, 20 volvo services inaugurated

VILLUPURAM: The State Transport Corporation is incurring a loss of Rs. 1.2 for every km.

The aggregate distance covered every day by corporation buses, which stood at 64 lakh km at the time of its inception, has increased to 94 lakh km now, said Transport Minister K.N. Nehru.

He was speaking at a function held at the main bus stand here on Tuesday to inaugurate 75 new services and 20 volvo services.

The corporation had a fleet of 19,000 buses carrying an average of 2.5 crore people every day. Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi was sanctioning adequate funds to offset the losses, he said.

Mr. Nehru said that the ticket fare of 0.28 paise for a km charged in ordinary State-run buses was the lowest in the country. The fare in express bus was 0.32 per km; ultra deluxe – 0.52 paise per km, air-conditioned bus – 0.82 paise per km and in Volvo bus – Re. 1 per km.

While ordinary buses were priced at Rs. 12 lakh each, the volvo model cost Rs. 88 lakh each. Mr. Nehru said that in the last three-and-half years, 10,350 new buses were bought. This year alone, 3,000 new buses had been purchased. Of these, 800 had been pressed into service and the remaining would be deployed in phases.

Mr. Nehru observed that on an average 3,550 new vehicles a day or 10 lakh new vehicles a year were registered.

The issuance of smart card driving licences, now in vogue in Cuddalore, Sivaganga and Chennai districts, would be extended to the rest of the State during this year.

The Minister pointed out that Higher Education Minister K. Ponmudy, during his tenure as Transport Minister, had started a pension scheme and mobilised a sum of Rs. 800 crore. Since the fund was treated as income, the government might have to pay tax on this. Therefore, a committee would be formed to go into the issue and restructure the pension scheme.

Keeping in view the safety of passengers, the bus crew was prohibited from carrying cell phones. But, some of them had contested the move in the court. The Minister opined that the ban would ensure the safety of the crew too.

Promotion orders were given to 52 employees on the occasion. Mr. Ponmudy said the Villupuram division was always run profitably. Health Minister M.R.K. Panneerselvam sought air-conditioned bus services from Cuddalore.

Regional Managing Director of the corporation C. Paramasivam, General Manager Premkumar, MLAs and officials participated.