The Hindu : No alternative to bus fare hike, says Naidu

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 02, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh

No alternative to bus fare hike, says Naidu

By Our Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD Feb. 1. The Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, has said that there are compelling reasons for the APSRTC to go for bus fare hike and with war clouds gathering over the Gulf region even the hike effected may not be of any use as the diesel rates will shoot up.

The accumulated losses of RTC which were Rs. 850 crores were bound to go up further with oil imports becoming more expensive under the impact of war. The RTC's financial position was already crippled by a strike last year, Mr. Naidu said at the extended general body meeting of TDP here on Saturday.

Mr. Naidu noted that the diesel rate had gone up 10 times since the last time the fares were hiked and the burden on RTC because of the hike in the rates was almost Rs. 200 crores this year. The increase was Rs. 3.40 a litre during the period and the RTC incurred 67 paise a km on diesel.

The Chief Minister wondered at the continued strike in Singareni Collieries when 80 per cent of the targeted production was achieved with 25 per cent attendance. The strike was politically motivated and owed mostly to the gameplan of Congress, Left and extremist organisations led by the Singareni Karmika Samakhya (SIKASA).

He also said the political parties tried to mar the situation when an investment of Rs. 2,000 crores was proposed in the coalfields. The company was also aiming at a profit of Rs. 400 crores for the first time in 35 years and all of it would be used to clear the debts of the company or on welfare of workers.

Stating that the company's financial position was redeemed from a loss of Rs. 1,250 crores five or six years ago to a profit of Rs. 153 crores this year, Mr. Naidu said it helped in extending profit-sharing bonus, special pay incentive, welfare and housing facilities to workers.

Mr. Naidu assured that the surface miner at Koyyagudem open-cast mine, the bone of contention of the striking unions, will neither result in loss of jobs nor privatisation. It would only improve profits of the company. There were 12 such miners in the pits operated by the Coal India Limited but there were no such strikes anywhere.

Asking partymen to be vigilant to the criticism by the Congress and other parties as they had the tendency to oppose all programmes of the Government, Mr. Naidu insisted on intra-party discipline not to give any chance to the Opposition to make light of them. He called for unity in the party and giving a go-by to group politics, noticed on a few occasions during the recent membership drive.

The TDP had a reputation as a disciplined party but it earned a bad name because of one or two leaders, he said.

The Chief Minister said the Congress-ruled States vied with AP for private investment but this was something Congress leaders here could not stomach. He asked partymen to remove the apprehensions of the public about the drinking water problem in the coming months as the Government would do everything to sink borewells or transport water.

He lauded the efforts that went into party membership enrolment and advised the leaders to ensure 50 per cent representation to weaker sections and 85 per cent to women in the committees at various levels to be constituted in the next phase.

`A mega achievement': Mr. Chandrababu Naidu is a proud man today -- he could clinch the Afro-Asian Games for Hyderabad ahead of Delhi which had earlier been finalised as the venue.

Mr. Naidu expressed his happiness about bringing the games to the city in no small measure at the meeting.

(Later at the inauguration of the third India International Travel Mart - 2003, Mr. Naidu announced that the Games would be organised in October-November in which over 4,000 athletes from nearly 90 countries would participate.)

Mr. Naidu said the successful conduct of the recent National Games in the city had much to do with the award of the Afro-Asian Games. When he asked the Central Government and the Indian Olympic Association to agree to the conduct of the games in the city in view of the infrastructure already created by the National Games, both responded positively. And what is more, the Asian and African Olympic Councils also accepted the proposal.

The Chief Minister, however, had a misgiving that the Congress would not take it kindly to the event in the city. He asked the partymen to be prepared to rebut the criticism of the Congress in this regard given the latter's record of having grievance against any good programme of the State Government.

Mr. Naidu was also elated that the State recently won six awards at the national level in promoting tourism. The State would be at the top in tourism in five to six years.

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