Congress denounces CM’s RTC closure threat

Congress denounces CM’s RTC closure threat
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Highlights

Leader of Opposition in Telangana State Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir has strongly condemned Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao for threatening to wind up Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC).

Hyderabad: Leader of Opposition in Telangana State Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir has strongly condemned Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao for threatening to wind up Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC).

  • Opposition Leader in State Legislative Council Shabbir Ali says the Chief Minister cannot claim that he is owner of government properties
  • He demands that the government take steps and sanction grant to the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation

Addressing a media conference at Gandhi Bhavan here on Friday, Shabbir Ali said the RTC employees had played a major role during Telangana statehood movement and therefore, the State government must take steps to redress their grievances. Instead of sanctioning special grants and taking other steps, the Chief Minister had simply suggested that he would shut down the corporation.

"Some government agencies could not be judged just on the basis of mere profits or losses that they make. The TSRTC gives free/concessional passes to students and other sections, operates buses in remote and rural areas and undertakes other services which are not profitable, he said. It was the duty of State government to support the RTC to ensure that it continues to give better services to the people.

"KCR had praised RTC employees and their role in Telangana movement on multiple occasions. But when it came to help them and revive the institution, KCR was behaving in an autocratic manner," he said. "KCR has no authority to shut down the RTC. He cannot play with the lives of over 55,000 employees. As a CM, KCR is only the custodian and not the owner of government institutions.

The Congress party will completely support the agitation to protect the interest of RTC employees," he said. Shabbir Ali also demanded that the State government either cancel the Power Purchase Agreement with Chhattisgarh or revise the rates. He said that the government would be buying power at higher rates from Chhattisgarh.

Presently, the market price was somewhere between Rs 3.50 and Rs 4 per unit. However, Chhattisgarh was charging Rs. 1 to Rs. 1.50 extra for each unit. Therefore, the government would lose Rs. 750-1,000 crore a year if it bought power from Chhattisgarh. Similarly, the State would lose at least Rs. 10,000 crore if it bought 1,000 MW for 12 years as per the agreement.

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