Stalemate ends: Telangana passes TSRTC merger Bill after Governor Soundararajan gives assent

Hon’ble Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan has granted her approval for the introduction of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (Absorption of Employees into Government Service) Bill 2023 in the Telangana State Legislative Assembly with certain recommendations to the… pic.twitter.com/kzQtTEef3Q

— Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan (@DrTamilisaiGuv) August 6, 2023

Speaking on the floor of the House, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao said the government is compelled to merge the transport corporation with the government due to the mounting losses suffered by the former. A decision regarding this was taken after discussing the matter at length. The State Cabinet passed a resolution to this effect on July 31. He said he did not understand why the governor sought so many clarifications.

KCR said the government has a social obligation towards its people to provide affordable public transport despite the mounting losses the corporation has been incurring and hence decided to absorb the employees into the government service and merge the corporation to infuse adequate budget to strengthen it. He said the government has been allocating Rs 1,500 crore towards TSRTC’s operations every year and clarified that the government had no plans to sell or auction its assets.

Transport Minister P Ajay Kumar said the government will now pump in Rs 3,000 crore every year to meet the salary and allowances of the over 43,000 employees. He added that the TSRTC will continue to operate under the administrative control of the Transport, Roads and Buildings Department, with the vice-chairman and managing director as its head. The existing service rules of the TSRTC will remain in force until fresh rules are framed, he added.

Soundararajan, who initially refused to give permission on account of lack of time to study the Bill and due to certain clarifications that she required, recommended that TSRTC’s assets should stay with the corporation even after the merger for its sole use. She recommended that its assets be divided between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and the process be completed under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. She wanted the government to clarify and assume the liability of clearing the arrears from the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC). Telangana was carved out of the state of Andhra Pradesh in June 2014.

The governor wanted the emoluments of the RTC employees, once absorbed as government employees, to be on the same scale as other state government employees following pay scales, service rules, and regulations vis-à-vis salary, transfers, promotions, retirement pensions, or provident funds, and other gratuities.

Similarly, contract employees or outsourced employees are to be treated and given similar benefits and salaries according to state service rules as regular employees, and their service is to be recognised and protected for further service in other capacities or departments, including Provident Fund. The governor also recommended that the government take over the maintenance of buses, etc, through outsourcing to an independent entity or in any other manner, undertaking to bear the financial burden of the maintenance and upkeep of the buses for the safety of the people.