New transport policy on the anvil

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, DEC. 4. The Chief Minister, Mr. S. M. Krishna, today said his Government would soon announce a transport policy.

Giving away the awards to ``accident-free'' drivers of the State's road transport corporations here, Mr. Krishna said the Transport Minister, Mr. Sageer Ahmed, and the Principal Secretary to the Department of Transport, Mr. M. B. Prakash, would work on the policy. The draft policy would then be thrown open for public debate.

The Chief Minister, who was sorry that there were reports of quality of public transport service deteriorating, wondered why people preferred private to public transport. Cleanliness, safety of commuters and competitive fare were the reasons. He hoped that the staff of the RTCs would change their ``mindset'' to bring in a better image to their organisations. The driver should consider his bus on par with his ``home'' and he should treat every commuter as his ``close relative.''

He directed the Vice-Chairman of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, Mr. K. Jairaj, to ensure that bus stands had toilets, especially for women.

Earlier, Mr. Sageer Ahmed stated that a serious effort was being made to change the image of the KSRTC by inducting air- conditioned and hitech buses. Already a Volvo bus had been put into service between Bangalore and Mangalore. The Government was keen to introduce new-design buses in Bangalore soon, he added.

He said some private transporters had come forward to operate about 500 more buses in Bangalore and a decision would be taken soon on their proposals. This was in addition to 2,400 buses being operated in the City now.

The Minister stated that 74 units of the road transport corporations had already been computerised. The remaining 76 units would be computerised by December next.

He was glad the KSRTC was gradually earning the confidence of the people as a ``service organisation'' shedding its bureaucratic image. It had earned a Rs. 5-lakh award from the Centre for its quality of service.

Mr. Jairaj said the State RTCs were attempting to achieve ``zero cancellation'' and high efficiency. The buses were being made Euro II compliant. An attempt was being made to bring the rate of accidents to zero from the current rate of 0.18 per one lakh km. The drivers were being given training using a Rs. 25-lakh simulator acquired recently.

Stating that the BMTC and NWRTC were earning a profit of 40 to 45 paise per km. of travel, he hoped that the loss-making Gulbarga Road Transport Corporation and KSRTC would soon start making profits.

The Chief Minister gave away awards to 210 drivers who had run buses without accidents in 15 years of their service in mofussil areas or seven years of service in BMTC.

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Section  : Southern States
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