Come to talk of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation and specifically its ‘Palle Velugu’ rural services, it has always been known to be one that is not a revenue generator, but one that is steeped in losses. In fact, a major portion of the losses for the corporation was from these services.
In its attempt to bail itself out of losses, the corporation is understood to be considering replacement of Palle Velugu buses (each of 55 seats) with mini buses having varying seating capacities – 22, 26 and 32 – to ferry passengers from interior villages.
This is a first such attempt on rural roads that the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation tried out, pressing mini buses into service, off the main roads into colonies in and around Hyderabad. However, it did not prove to be as much a hit as it was considered and the corporation withdrew these buses.
RTC officials bemoan that the Palle Velugu buses accumulated losses because their occupancy ratio was poor, operation and maintenance cost never recovered and the fare low compared to other categories of buses. So, it was thought that the mini buses might help in reversing the trend.
Much left to be desired
A recent report of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has put Telangana State, the youngest among 29 in the country, completely on the mat in the matter of its expenditure on two vital sectors of education and health (medical, public health and family welfare), particularly among non-special category and revenue surplus States during 2015-16.
Although Telangana is among 11 revenue surplus States out of 17 non-special category ones, its aggregate expenditure on the all-important education sector is at the rock bottom – 17{+t}{+h}position – with only 10 per cent of the total budget estimates spent on it. Chhattisgarh, another small and new State, is the topper with 19.4-per cent spending. Even the so called BIMARU States have fared better in this aspect with 18.6 p.c., 15.9 p.c., 17.3 p.c. and 16.9 p.c., respectively, spending out of their budget on it. The all-India average (both special category and non-special category States) is 16.4 p.c. and that of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh is 16.2 p.c. In case of expenditure on health sector, Telangana is in the joint 8{+t}{+h}position along with West Bengal and Odisha with 4.5 p.c. of the total budget estimates on it. Rajasthan was the top spender with 6.8 p.c. Neighbouring AP has fared better here too with 5.2 p.c. – 5{+t}{+h}position among 17 States.
Pay back time!
It’s hard to predict when fortunes change in one’s life and politics. It is proving to be perfect for an official (a State government employee) and a politician from Warangal district, who were on the opposite side when the movement for statehood for Telangana was at its peak after 2009 as the politician, who is holding a key position in the government now, was in TDP then and the official was leading a TJAC wing.
The two have ended up in the same department after the formation of Telangana State with the politician becoming a Minister and the official getting one of the top administrative posts. The official was a big pain for the politician during the movement days since he used to lead protests frequently in front of the latter’s residence in Warangal. Now in the changed scenario, the politician is paying back the official with the same coin, not by victimising but by making him wait for long hours every time the official visits him on administrative purposes. But for the political backing, the official would have been a fry in the pan by now!
Panel to approve grants for NGOs
The NGOs involved in various social service programmes will have a tough time getting grant-in-aid from the Telangana government this year in the wake of complaints that they were not working well or some of them created bogus records or some disappeared after submitting applications.
Therefore, the government has constituted a multi-disciplinary committee with senior officials and representatives of NGOs to inspect the premises of applicants and recommend them for the grant after being satisfied with their functioning, maintenance and service.
Inspections will also be done for renewal of grant for the existing NGOs.
