Hyderabad: The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) received Rs 1,500 crore in the State Budget, which was presented by finance minister T. Harish Rao in the Assembly on Monday, sparking worries that the transportation utility corporation, which is already heavily indebted, will continue to accumulate debt.
The employees said that of the Rs 1,500 crore, Rs 850 crore was earmarked for bus pass reimbursement extended to various categories of citizens. They asserted that the allocations are woefully inadequate given that the management owes the staff and retired employees several crores in salaries and pensions.
The employees’ representatives alleged that despite their plea for budgetary allocations of Rs 5,000 crore, the state government only set aside Rs 1,500 crore, despite the fact that it had debts of Rs 2,500 crore. They asserted that the meagre budgetary allocation given to the transportation corporate utility has imperilled the lives of 47,000 TSRTC employees and their families and that the management of TSRTC owed employees crores of rupees in unpaid salaries and pensions.
Former RTC board director M. Nageswara Rao stated that it is unfair that the HMRL, which ferries about 3 lakh passengers daily in their Metro Rail services, were granted Rs 2,500 crore while the public utility service TSRTC, which transports over 32 lakh people daily, received only Rs 1,500 crore Budgetary allocations.
“The state government utilised Rs 950 crore from our cooperative credit society, Rs 900 crore from provident funds and Rs 300 crore from SBT (Staff Benevolent and Thrift fund) and SRBS (Staff Retirement Benefit Scheme). When will the management pay back the employees? Two PRCs are still pending. We asked for an allocation of Rs 5,000 crore, but even in this Budget, the government disregarded our requests,” said Maramreddy Thomas Reddy, RTC Telangana Mazdoor Union’s general secretary.
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