Assam State Transport Corporation Buses Incur Loss; Employees Express Ire

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: The Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) has incurred a loss of over Rs. 86 crore annually on average during the last seven years, since the fiscal year 2016–17. During the same period, the company spent over Rs 200 crore annually due to a number of factors, including a price hike for parts required for bus repairs.

The corporation incurred a loss of Rs. 82.63 crore in 2019-20, and Rs. 97.86 crore in 2020-21. The loss has grown in size for the fiscal years 2021-2022. Thus, the fiscal year 2021-2022 saw ASTC incurring its greatest loss, exceeding Rs. 106 crore. The loss did, however, drop by 20% in the following fiscal year. Currently, approximately a fleet of 640 ASTC buses are in operation on various routes throughout Assam, 226 buses have been leased out through open tenders, and over 480 buses are not operational.

ASTC spends over Rs 4.4 crore in employee salaries each month, with 1,803 workers under its payroll. In all, 170 workers received the benefits of voluntary retirement in 2023, and 83 workers took voluntary retirement this year. In addition, the ASTC provides various facilities to its passengers, including discounts for the elderly people and kids. One of the passengers said, “All of the ASTC buses, with the exception of the newly arrived green ones, are in extremely poor condition. That is why fewer people ride ordinary buses these days. Moreover, the buses do not ply on the assigned routes after 8:00 p.m.”

An employee of ASTC commented, “The long-distant ASTC buses have no air condition facility. It becomes suffocating for the passengers to travel long distances during the summer. For travelling comfortably, the authority ought to at the very least maintain this facility and equip every bus with A/C. The rest of the buses are in terrible shape, with the exception of the ones on lease.”

A contractual driver of ASTC said, “There are over a thousand casual workers in the department, many of whom have been there for almost ten years without seeing a pay increase. We are transferred to remote locations if we ask the department to increase our pay. They do not want us to become permanent employees.”

“As drivers, we will uphold and carry out our responsibilities appropriately if the department maintains the buses. The department does not undertake its own bus maintenance. They claim not to have any funds and don’t provide any servicing of the vehicles. Therefore, the sole party accountable for their loss is the department. Since the green buses are automated, the department should have provided training to the drivers on how to operate them as a result of the high frequency of accidents involving them. Due to poor maintenance, green buses these days are likewise getting worse,” another ASTC employee said.

 Also Read: Letters to the Editor: Rash driving and ASTC buses (sentinelassam.com)

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