Minister Parimal Suklabaidya seeks status report on idle buses

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Transport Minister Parimal Suklabaidya visited the ASTC (Assam State Transport Corporation) workshop and took stock of buses awaiting repair for years. He instructed the Chief Engineer to submit a detailed report on the status of the idle vehicles within a week.

Seeing the buses lying idle and awaiting repair for months, Suklabaidya raised his eyebrows and asked the officials concerned reasons behind the public property lying idle for such a long time.

The officials pointed out the cash crunch as one of the reasons behind the improper maintenance of the vehicles. "According to ASTC rules, we keep a long-distance bus off the roads after it renders four to eight years of service. It is because the maintenance cost of such old buses is very high. Plying them on the road is commercially not viable," one of the officials said.

Another official said, "The Gauhati High Court's order banning long buses in cities has made many ASTC buses remain off the roads. We have several such long buses at our disposal."

A few days back, The Sentinel reported hundreds of ASTC buses lying unattended in its workshops for months.

The minister told The Sentinel, "The wastage of public property (buses) in the workshop has hurt me. I asked them to show me the specific reasons why and since when the vehicles have been lying idle. Timely repair of the buses would have made them (buses) productive. If the corporation cannot ply the long buses in cities, it can give such fleets to the districts. The lifespan of a bus is 15 years. Why do you shorten their lifespan to four to eight years without repairing them timely?"

Suklabaidya added, "If the ASTC cannot repair the buses, we can hand them over to private parties."

The minister also visited the ASTC head office at Paltan Bazar and inquired about the functioning of the office. He found many officers absent during his visit.

Suklabaidya said, "Work culture is a must for the wellbeing of any organization or institution. ASTC employees need dedication to their work. I will try my best to make ASTC a profit-making entity within a year."

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