The government on Friday set the ball rolling for the merger of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) with the government by issuing a GO on constitution of a committee to study the modalities.
The six-member committee will be headed by former IPS officer C. Anjaneya Reddy as Chairman and Principal Secretary, Transport and Roads and Buildings Department; Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of APSRTC; former Director of Central Institute of Road Transport, Pune Sudarshanam Padam; and Secretary/Additional Secretary of Finance Department, State Government, to be nominated by the Principal Finance Secretary will be members. Executive Director (Administration), APSRTC, will also be a member/convener.
The expert committee will work out the modalities for the merger, the implications relating to the decision and ways to address the arising issues. It will also study the feasibility of substituting the present diesel buses with electric buses and the way forward besides addressing the issues of clearance of outstanding dues to employees, accumulated bank loans and current liabilities.
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Another key issue to be studied by the panel members is the current cost of operation with break-up on all the expenditure items and suggest measures to reduce the expenditure and improve efficiency parameters.
The committee will also co-opt former Managing Director, Indian Renewable Energy Department Agency (IREDA), New Delhi V. Bhaktahavasthalam, Professor from Centre for Economic and Social Studies (CESS), Hyderabad C. Ramachandraiah, an expert on Project Finance Management and another person with sound knowledge in the field, as members to assist the study related to introduction of electric buses.
The committee will brief the progress regularly to the Finance Minister and the Transport Minister, take their suggestions and incorporate them into the report which should be submitted in three months.
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JAC hails decision
Leaders of the APSRTC unions’ Joint Action Committee have hailed the government move saying it would set the ball rolling for merger, which was the solution for all the existing problems in the organisation.
In a statement, JAC leaders P. Damodar Rao, Y.V. Rao, Ch. Sundaraiah, V. Varahala Naidu and V. Siva Prasad said they would extend their full cooperation to the merger process.