The coalition government is ready to fulfill another of the Super Six promises made before the elections. It is taking steps towards providing free travel in RTC buses to women from Ugadi, the new year of the Telugu people. Women within the joint district limits will not need to buy a ticket no matter how many times a month or how far a day they travel.
On Monday, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu reviewed with Transport Minister Mandipalli Ramprasad Reddy and RTC senior officials. “We have already implemented the free gas cylinder scheme among the promises made to women. Free bus travel should also be implemented. Let’s start from Sankranthi,” Chandrababu said.
However, RTC senior officials said that 3,500 buses and 11,500 staff are required to implement free travel at present. They said that the free travel guarantee cannot be implemented without at least 2000 new buses or rented buses. They said that the average passenger occupancy ratio in APSRTC is 69 percent, and it is estimated that if free travel is implemented for women, it will increase to 94 percent.
It was estimated that the implementation of free travel is likely to burden the government with Rs. 265 crore every month. Then, the Chief Minister ordered a cabinet sub-committee to study and submit a report. Minister Ramprasad Reddy told the CM that he would go to Karnataka on January 2 for a study along with Home Minister Anita, Women’s Welfare Minister Sandhya Rani and a team of RTC officials.
He said that he had recently discussed the challenges and difficulties faced in the implementation of free travel with Telangana CM Revanth Reddy. He said that he would soon go to Tamil Nadu and study and submit a full report. In the review, the CM ordered that electric vehicles be given priority in the purchase of new buses in the RTC.
However, officials said that the central government is not directly providing subsidies to state transport corporations, but is providing it under Gross Cost Contract (GCC). They explained that if they do so, all the buses will be rented and the services of the current RTC staff will become useless. They said that if we purchase electric vehicles ourselves, regardless of the central subsidy, we will have to set up 42 additional depots across the state.
Officials explained that 5,608 buses will have to be purchased in the next two years. The Chief Minister instructed the RTC officials to conduct an overall study and come back with a full report.
