The Andhra Pradesh Government is firm on making the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) the leading public transport entity in the country in the next three years.
The corporation has initiated efforts to leverage technology for improving the operational efficiency. Accordingly, steps would be taken to ensure that the corporation is strengthened on all fronts, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has said.
The Chief Minister flagged off 100 new buses of the APSRTC at a function organised here on Monday coinciding with the Republic Day celebrations. “It’s the responsibility of the corporation to ensure proper maintenance of the buses and the Government will assist it in replacing old buses with new ones, wherever necessary,” he said.
Mr. Naidu, who referred to the losses incurred by the APSRTC, exhorted the officials concerned to ensure optimum utilisation of the assets to create additional sources of income to tide over the accumulated losses. “It is the duty of employees to work hard to make the corporation a profit-making entity,” he said underscoring the need for reliability to improve its operations or else passengers would look for other modes of transport.
There should not be any compromise on quality and efficiency. In addition to 100 new buses pressed into service on Monday, plans were underway to add 700 more in February and March. He complimented the APSRTC authorities for their initiative of deploying GPRS technology and surveillance cameras in the new buses and added that the State Government would take measures to establish a separate colony for the RTC staff.
Mr. Naidu said that the drivers were facing problems due to the bad road conditions. “Everyone knows that it’s a bone-wrecking experience to drive on these roads. I will ask officials to visit one or two States to conduct a detailed study on improving the road conditions,” he said adding that effective road condition would reflect the progress made by the State.
The APSRTC, owning a large fleet, currently operates more than 12,000 buses across the State and catering to the services of over 80 lakh passengers every day through its network of 123 depots. Explaining about his recent visit to Davos, the Chief Minister said, “Everyone is speaking about India and I strongly believe that the country would occupy a pride of place in next few years,” he added.
