Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu on Wednesday urged the newly-appointed Chairman of the A.P. State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) Varla Ramaiah to work towards achieving Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s goal of bringing the organisation out of the red.
Addressing a meeting in connection with the oath-taking ceremony of Mr. Ramaiah, the Minister said as part of the government’s plan to strengthen the public transport giant, N.V. Surendra Babu was appointed as the Managing Director.
Mr. Ramaiah’s appointment to the post of the Chairman would further contribute towards good health of the organisation, he added.
Building from scratch
He admitted that running the debt-ridden RTC efficiently was a major challenge and advised the officials at the helm to work in close coordination with the workers and the public.
He said the main challenge was to help the organisation overcome losses and run it on a no-profit-no-loss basis.
Transport Minister K. Atchannaidu said Mr. Ramaiah was expected to rise to the expectations and contribute his expertise to the well-being of the RTC. He said bifurcation had dealt a severe blow to the public transport sector as it had to start from the scratch leaving behind all its properties in Hyderabad.
Concerted efforts
Mr. Atchannaidu said the ₹8,000 crore revenue losses the RTC had inherited post-bifurcation could be brought down to ₹3,000 crore due to coordinated efforts of the officials and the workers. As many as 200 new buses could be added to the fleet with the financial assistance given by the government, he said, adding that the need of the hour was concerted efforts by workers, employees and the management to tide over the financial crisis.
Mr. Ramaiah, after taking oath of secrecy administered by the Transport Minister, expressed gratitude to the Chief Minister for reposing faith in him.
He said he would do his best to efficiently lead the APSRTC.
Irrigation Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, Minister for Civil Supplies Prathipati Pullarao and Minister for BC Welfare Nakka Anand Babu spoke.
APSRTC MD Surendra Babu, Ministers Amarnath Reddy and Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy, MLCs B. Arjunudu, Karanam Balaram, V.V. Chowdary and B. Ravindra, Krishna Zilla Parishad chairperson Gadde Anuradha, Mayor Koneru Sridhar and others were present.
