RTC to take agitators to court

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, JUNE 30. The APSRTC is all set to sue the agitators who damaged its property recently in the State. According to Mr.V. Appa Rao, the outgoing Vice-Chairman and MD of the corporation, the decision to take legal action against individuals or organisations was forced on it due to largescale damage of its buses and other property.

Talking to presspersons here on Friday, Mr. Appa Rao said recently in Guntur alone the damage to its property was to the tune of Rs.1.81 crore. The agitators and the rampaging crowds were targeting bus depots of late inflicting major losses on the organisation. It was mindless violence and must be stopped henceforth. As soon as investigations were over, the corporation would go ahead with the plan. ``The decision would act as a deterrent,''he said.

Emboldened by the recent Kerala High Court judgment on bandhs and hartals called by political parties and organisations, the corporation was initiating legal action against those responsible for damaging public property. Monetary compensation would be claimed, Mr. Appa Rao said.

He added ``anyone causing damage has to pay. Though, we do not mean we would sue people for breaking an odd glasspane, if the loss is considerable, then someone must be accountable for it. If political parties are responsible for the loss, then let them cough up money.''

Asked whether it meant filing cases against the Congress for its alleged instigation of violence in Guntur after the recent bomb blast in a minority worship place, he said,``Investigation is on. Once the real culprits are identified, then we go ahead and sue them. In the last seven or eight years, we have lost more then 900 buses.'' On whether, the litigation in its gamut include cases against agitators against power tariff hike, he said,``If the damage is considerable, yes.''

Mr. Appa Rao said the APSRTC's performance was getting better every day and saw a bright future for it. Due to the measures adopted by him, the organisation had saved a lot of money, he added. He agreed that the commuters preferred private transport or rail transport as soon as the corporation hiked the fares and added ``but the deviation was for a short while. The kind of facilities we offer no one does. Hence, they come back to us.'' He thanked the officials for cooperating with him in improving efficiency.

On his new role as the chairman of the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission, he said he would strive to bring in more transparency in its functioning. He preferred a yearly calendar for all recruitments.

The APSRTC entered the Limca Book of World records as the largest passenger bus transport organisation in the world during his tenure and achieved several firsts. Passenger facilities made a leap with the number of bus stations going up to 702 from 452 and that of shelters from 1,378 to 1,801. All the depots (209) got computerised and the number of employees recruited was 30,837.

The Chartered Institute of Transport (UK) adjudged the APSRTC the safest road transport undertaking and it bagged Petroleum Conservation Research Association awards for the highest KMPL for three consecutive years from 1996 to 1999.

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