In a bid to revive the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), which is reeling under huge financial stress due to the pandemic and later strike in the last, the Shinde Fadnavis government has intervened and taken a series of decisions.
Chief Minister Mr Eknath Shinde on Friday chaired the MSRTC’s Board meeting and announced that 5,150 electric buses will be purchased on lease and 2,000 diesel buses will be purchased in its fleet. Apart from that, 5,000 diesel buses will be converted into Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)in phases. CM also approved in principle to take a loan from the Asian Development Bank to purchase these buses.
Since the chassis for CNG buses are not available and in view of the low number of CNG pumps, the Chief Minister also approved the purchase of 2000 diesel buses instead of CNG in the fleet of ST and taking 180 buses on lease for Pune and Sangli division.
Mr Shinde said that it is necessary to change the face of State Transport buses which is the lifeline of Maharashtra. He asked the MSRTC to maintain cleanliness and provide quality services to the people of the state.
CM said after the conversion of 5,000 diesel buses into LNG. ‘’Due to this, LNG will be supplied at a rate 20 to 25 percent lower than the prevailing rate of diesel. Also, since the entire bus is air-conditioned, passengers can travel with less money.,’’ he noted. The Chief Minister also clarified that this work will be done by the supplier company and initially the corporation will not have to make any investment.
Increase in rate of Dearness Allowance for ST Officers-Employees
CM also approved an increase in the rate of Dearness Allowance for MSRTC’s 92,000 officers and employees. The rate has now been hiked to 34% from the present level of 28%. MSRTC will have to bear additional expenses of Rs 15 crore towards salary. The Board also approved the salary revision of the employees and officers for the period of six years from 2016-17 to 2021-22.
The limit of additional gratuity to the heirs of employees who died while in service has been increased. It was approved to increase the limit of financial benefits from Rs 6.15 lakh to Rs 7.5 lakh under the additional gratuity and employee deposit-linked insurance scheme.
Tickets to be available from Android-based devices
Passengers will get ST bus tickets through an Android-based ETI device. Passengers will now get tickets through online payment such as debit cards, credit cards, and Google Pay. Apart from that, it was also approved to provide advance reservation facility through a mobile app website and to make an interactive new website for the MSRTC. After the creation of the new website, chatbot, complaint redressal facility, updated bus schedule etc. facilities will also be available to the passengers.
