Bus operators in State are eyeing big gains from their meeting with Road Transport Department meeting which is rescheduled on Wednesday. Operators believe that there are issues which can only be resolved with ‘department actively participating’ in their affairs.
“Seriousness of the meeting could easily be understood with the fact that there are issues and challenges before us in such a huge number that we don’t even know which issues the department wants us to discuss with. There are tax issues, permit issues, critical shortage of Motor Vehicle Inspectors’ issue, safety and security issues from one district to the other between source and destination, temporary and permanent bus station issues and dozens of others which require more than one meeting for all of them separately,” said Jharkhand Bus Owners Association (JBOA) President Sachchidananda Singh on Monday.
The JBOA in its Working Committee meeting on Sunday had discussed various issues to be put before government at length where bus operators from 16 districts operating buses intra and inter-state were present with difficulties they had been facing since years. Ranchi Bus Owners Association President Krishna Mohan Singh said on Monday that despite being State Capital, issues and modus operandi of district transport department was no better than that of any remote district of other parts of State.
“We are going to raise the issues with Transport Department Minister CP Singh in proposed meeting on Wednesday which have been killing us since some years. We pay taxes in advance, we abide by rules and regulations of the government which has kept on tweaking and curbing regulations for us the way it wants. Despite this, entire department from bottom to top is dependent on In-Charge ones. This shows government’s seriousness towards one of the most serious business like passenger transport,” said Singh.
Even a senior Transport Department official admitted that there were acute shortage of important officials like Motor Vehicle Inspectors and likes, and even all districts didn’t have full-fledged transport authority officials in required numbers.
“But we do believe that our meeting with the Minister and Secretary is going to garner some immediate relief to the transporters whose business in prevailing scenario has turned extremely difficult,” said JBOA President.