No plan to privatise Rajasthan roadways, says Minister

Rajasthan government today sought to allay apprehension of Opposition on introduction of private bus operations on national highways, saying State Road Transport Corporation (RSRTC) will not be privatised nor there would be any retrenchment of employees in future.
"Existing 21,500 employees should rest assured that their services will be well protected," PWD Minister Yunus Khan said during a debate during Zero Hour in Assembly.
He also said that fare of private bus operators will be regulated by a corporation constituted by the Transport department so there is no question of unexpected rise in tariff.
The minister said that state government has held talks with the trade unions of RSRTC and they felt satisfied with the new roadways policy and there would be no ban on employment generation and purchase of new buses by the existing RSRTC.

"Private bus operations of Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Tamil Nadu are being studied to provide better, fast and economical transport in rural and urban areas," he said.
Existing RSRTC was able to provide only 12 per cent of bus operations on 1.95 lakh km of roads and national highways and that was too small a figure for passengers' facility in the state, he said.
RSRTC was reeling under red with a cumulative loss of Rs 1,974 crore, the minister said, adding, if it improved its status, the state government would provide a grant of Rs 10 cr per month to it.

Earlier Congress' Sukhram and Ramesh Meena raised the issue alleging that the state government was going to privatise roadways bus operation by benefiting private operators.