Maha transport employees to get pending salaries before Diwali

Employees of the MSRTC, which is one of the biggest road transport undertakings in the county with a fleet of over 18,000 buses, have not received their salaries for the last three months due to the closure of services in the COVID-19 lockdown. Addressing a press conference here, state transport minister Anil Parab, who is also chairman of the MSRTC, said salaries of employees for a period of one month along with the advance (interest-free loan) will be disbursed today (Monday) itself.

In a big relief for employees of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), the state government on Monday decided to disburse their pending salaries for two months before Diwali festival, beginning later this week. Employees of the MSRTC, which is one of the biggest road transport undertakings in the county with a fleet of over 18,000 buses, have not received their salaries for the last three months due to the closure of services in the COVID-19 lockdown.

Addressing a press conference here, state transport minister Anil Parab, who is also chairman of the MSRTC, said salaries of employees for a period of one month along with the advance (interest-free loan) will be disbursed today (Monday) itself. "The salary of another (second) month will be settled before the Diwali festival," he said.

He said a request has been made to the state government to pay the pending salary of the third month. Parab also appealed to the employees against taking any extreme steps like committing suicides.

The MSRTC has suffered losses as its revenues in the form of fare from passengers took a hit due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Recently, the MSRTC services were resumed with the full capacity.

Parab said the MSRTC has suffered a loss of Rs 3,000 crore, but the expenses incurred on salaries, maintenance of buses, fuel and redevelopment of bus stands kept piling up. He further said though the MSRTC started operating buses with the full capacity from September 20, people are avoiding travel in its buses due to fear of COVID-19, which has badly affected the MSRTC's bus operation.

"The MSRTC used to ferry 65 lakh passengers daily (before the lockdown), but currently only 13 lakh passengers travel on its buses. The (current revenue) is only Rs 7 crore compared to Rs 22 crore of the pre-pandemic period," the minister said. He also expressed hope that the MSRTC's operation will become normal soon as the number of passengers is going up everyday.

Parab said the MSRTC is also trying to increase its earnings through other sources like transporting goods, setting up petrol pumps, and through remodelling of tyres at its plants. "But we need funds and the state government should bail out the transport corporation," he added.