Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Shankar panel to suggest modalities

By Radha Venkatesan

CHENNAI May 21. With the AIADMK Government set to throw open the transport sector to private operators, a high-level committee headed by the Chief Secretary, P.Shankar, has been set up to suggest modalities for privatisation.

According to a recent order, the committee will comprise the Transport Secretary, the Home Secretary, the Transport Commissioner and the Additional Secretary, Finance.

As of now, private operators are allowed to operate on long-distance routes between important places but not on short distance routes within Chennai and most other towns.

Though the 2002-2003 budget too made clear the AIADMK regime's intent to privatise the sector in view of the piling losses of the transport corporations, the Government as yet is unclear on even fundamental questions.

The committee, which is expected to meet soon, will have to decide whether routes should be privatised or buses available with the corporations handed over to private operators to minimise the operational cost, as has been done in neighbouring Karnataka.

And, if the routes are to be privatised, which and how may is another question. In the recent Assembly session, the Opposition, which decried the privatisation plans, raised apprehensions whether profitable routes would be privatised.

According to the figures available with the Transport department, over 17,000 buses of the various corporations ply on about 9,000 routes and their cumulative losses have crossed Rs. 2,400 crores.

Key proposals

Sources say the committee may consider two key proposals. Privatise, in the first phase, 500 uneconomical routes; and depending on the public response, in phases, the other loss-making routes can be handed over to the private operators. Or, reduce the operational cost by handing over the buses running on uneconomical routes to private operators for fixed lease charges.

In any case, the privatisation of the sector is likely to take at least a few months. As the Opposition parties and trade unions have already objected to the privatisation plans, the committee is expected to tread cautiously. And alongside, the Government has to merge and reduce the number of transport corporations to cut down spiralling administrative cost.

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