Haryana Roadways will not be privatised: Transport Minister

Ruling out privatisation of Haryana Roadways, state Transport Minister Ram Bilas Sharma today said the government was looking at improving its services.
"It is a reputed institution of the state and 14 lakh passengers travel in its buses everyday. This figure is quite respectable in view of Haryana's total population," he said, according to an official release here.
Sharma said he had a meeting with Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and officers of the Transport Department where various issues, including how to provide more facilities to the people, requirement of additional buses on certain routes, cleanliness at bus stands and conduct of the bus drivers and the conductors, were discussed.

"We are looking forward to making the Haryana Roadways on par with Mumbai's Best Bus Service which is ranked the best in the country," he said.
On the previous government's proposal to grant 3,519 permits to private operators, he said privatization of Haryana Roadways would not be done.
On 910 private permits issued in Haryana, Sharma said the youth of state had been operating these vehicles by constituting committees. Soon, a meeting would be held with these committees to do away the irregularities and ensure that better service is provided to the people.
The Transport Minister said action would be taken against all illegal vehicles plying on the roads in the state.

"Taxi services run by foreign companies are not used in Haryana though some such taxis do sometimes enter Gurgaon. This matter was discussed with the Chief Minister and he was apprised of the directive issued to the Regional Transport Authorities to crack down on unauthorised taxi services in the state and find out their number and nexus operating them," he said.