UP opens up 2 nationalised routes for private buses
In a significant move, the Uttar Pradesh government has, for the first time, opened up two of its nationalised routes for plying of private buses.
The move is being seen as beginning of the end of the stateowned UP State Road Transport Corporation’s (UPSRTC) decades-old monopoly on nationalised routes. The state transport authority (STA) is likely to soon invite applications and grant stage carriage permits to private operators to ply their buses on two prime nationalised routes -Lucknow-Gorakhpur (via Ayodhya-Vikramjot-Basti route) and Lucknow-Agra-Noida Expressway (via Ring Road Kuberpur (Agra)-Parichowk route).
The state government issued separate notifications for formulation of the two routes last month, alerting the employees’ unions that are now busy devising ways to oppose the decision.
Principal secretary, transport, Rajesh Kumar Singh said the state government had taken a well-considered decision to open the two nationalised routes, to begin with, for private buses with a view to unleashing a healthy competition between UPSRTC and private operators so that passengers could benefited in terms of availability of more options, better services and lower fares.
“We are not stopping UPSRTC from operating on these routes. We are only facilitating parallel operations of private buses for healthy competition and UPSRTC staff must accept the challenge,” he said.
Singh said the government would open many more nationalised routes for private operators to achieve the same objective.
UPSRTC employees, officers as well as pensioners, however, suspect the move as a larger conspiracy to gradually finish the corporation in favour of private operators. They are planning to form a joint forum to launch a statewide agitation to demand rollback of the decision.
“The decision to open two nationalised routes for private operators has made all of us suspicious of the government’s intention. We are discussing the issue and will soon chalk out a joint strategy to fight back,” said Tej Bahadur Sharma, a veteran UPSRTC employees’ leader.
A senior official claimed the UPSRTC and similar other state transport undertakings (STUs) were created under the Central government’s Act that gave exclusive rights to them to operate on nationalised routes.
“Hence, the state government has no legal authority to tamper with the sanctity of nationalised routes,” he said. “Otherwise, also the total length of nationalised routes in UP is less than 7% of the total motorable route with private operators having 93% of the routes to ply on,” he added.
Sources claimed the government’s main intention was to issue permits to private operators of states like Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh connecting them directly to Delhi via UP.
“But this is not fair,” the sources said adding, “If connectivity is the issue, then UPSRTC can think of operating private buses under an inter-state agreement as we already do within the state.” Private buses, in fact, already operate on most nationalised routes in UP, including on the ones opened by the government but they do it illegally. Transporters obtain contract carriage permits for specific purposes like transporting a marriage party, carrying tourists etc from one point to another.
Schools in Lucknow will re-open from October 19 and shall run in two shifts. Some of them however plan to delay opening till October 26 while still others are planning to open after Diwali holidays.
Some schools plan to call students on the basis of odd, even roll numbers.
The first shift for students of class 9 and 10 will run between 8.50 am to 11.50 am while second shift for class 11 and 12 between 12.20 pm to 3.20 pm, said district inspector of schools, Mukesh Singh on Monday.
He said school will run in two shifts of 2 hours duration. First shift from 8 am to 10 am and second shift from 1 pm to 3 pm. In between the two shifts schools will be sanitised properly, he said. Fr Vincent Pinto, educational director, Catholic education society, “All six Catholic Diocese schools in Lucknow will reopen from October 19.”
Meanwhile, La Martiniere College has decided to call students on the basis of odd and even roll numbers to ensure against overcrowding.
THE STATE ROAD TRANSPORT CORPORATION’S EMPLOYEES, OFFICERS AND PENSIONERS SUSPECTED THE MOVE AS A LARGER PLAN TO GRADUALLY FINISH THE CORPORATION IN FAVOUR OF PRIVATE OPERATORS