hifting of RTC Academy sans arrangements

Vijayawada: The hasty shifting of RTC Transport Academy from Gannavaram to Vidyadharapuram to give room for an IT firm on an emergency basis has resulted in cancellation of the classes of both academy and Zonal Staff Training College (ZSTC) as hostel for staff could not be ready by this month-end.

The Krishna district administration, though acquired the land of 28 acres belonging to RTC, it promised to show an alternative site measuring 25 acres in Nunna, according to an RTC official.However, as a result of shifting of the academy and ZSTC on May 6, the academy and ZSTC have to stop their training classes to staff. While the Transport Academy trains officials and Class I Supervisors, the ZSTC imparts training for new recruits and existing staff. The trained employees include drivers, conductors, mechanics, clerks and others.

Highlights:

• As a result of shifting of the academy and ZSTC on May 6, the academy and ZSTC have to stop their training classes to staff
• While the Transport Academy trains officials and Class I Supervisors, the ZSTC imparts training for new recruits and existing staff
• Though the works pertaining to new structures are going on at a brisk pace, it will take another fortnight to resume classes, a source said

According to sources, the Transport Academy was established at Durgapuram in Gannavaram in 1988. The same was shifted to Hyderabad, the then capital, after a few years. Class I Supervisors and officers of the RTC were trained here. About 1,650 officials are being trained at this academy every year since its shifting from Hyderabad to the same premises post-bifurcation in 2015.

The academy conducts higher management test two times in a year at this academy, said Ch Vimala, principal of the academy. She said that the officials were being imparted upgradation skills. The training usually lasts for a few days and help of cut-models would be taken up to help the officials comprehend the mechanisms and other technical skills in a better manner. Though the allotted site for academy is congested, the academy uses a portion of nearby RTC workshop to train its staff, she added.

Similarly, the ZSTC takes care of 7,500 candidates every year. Mechanical lab and computer lab are the main components of the academy. The ZSTC comprises Krishna, West Godavari and Guntur districts. There are three more ZSTCs located at Vizianagaram, Nellore and Kurnool, according to college principal MY Danam.

For industrial training, the candidates (newly recruited) should have to stay here for two to three months in hostel and learn the techniques. For refresher category, the training for already working staff lasts for just three days, he added.Now, after shifting both ZSTC and academy to the old premises of training school at Vidyadharapuram workshop, construction activity is going on at a hectic pace there.

To teach fundamentals of training, two blocks are under construction and a hostel is also being built on the ground floor of nearby residential school.The hostel would accommodate about 100 staff and trainees. Though the works pertaining to these structures are going on at a brisk pace, it will take another fortnight to resume classes, a source said.

By Noor Shaik