Metro India News | SURYAPET   

Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka stated that public assets and government entities, such as the RTC, which are inherited, need to be improved to adapt to evolving circumstances. He emphasized that the Congress government in Telangana is progressing in this direction.

The Deputy Chief Minister addressed a public meeting at the Suryapet bus depot after inaugurating 45 electric buses here on Monday. Speaking on the occasion, he mentioned that the RTC, which was established to meet the needs of ordinary people, has been running in losses, and earlier governments contemplated whether to sustain or abandon it.

Bhatti Vikramarka said the RTC survived because it is a people’s government. He appreciated Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, who, with progressive thinking and detailed discussions in the cabinet, is implementing people-centric initiatives and striving to strengthen the RTC. ‘The RTC is moving forward by adopting ideas from around the world. While 79 battery buses have been sanctioned to the Suryapet RTC depot, launching 45 battery buses in a single day is historic. This initiative will continue across the state,’ he said.

To protect Hyderabad city from pollution, the State government has introduced 2,800 battery buses within the Outer Ring Road, Bhatti Vikramarka said. He noted that to enable women across the state to travel freely from anywhere to anywhere, the government launched the free bus travel scheme for women. Since the scheme’s inception, RTC has issued 182 crore zero-fare tickets. On behalf of the women, the state government has paid Rs.6,088 crore to RTC, he stated.

‘At a time when there were fears about RTC’s future, it has moved toward profitability through the free travel scheme for women. Due to the Mahalakshmi Scheme, RTC buses are now running at full capacity. If the government had not borne the financial burden of the free ticket scheme, the RTC’s condition would have been worrisome,’ Bhatti Vikramarka said.