Botcha rules out jobs to kin of Volvo victims
HYDERABAD: Stating that he could understand the pain being endured by the families of the victims of Mahbubnagar bus fire accident, PCC chief and transport minister Botcha Satyanarayana said it was not possible for the government to provide government jobs to a member of each family of the victims as demanded.
'Leaders of some political parties such as TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu are trying to provoke the members of the families of victims against the government. Is it possible to provide government jobs and give a compensation of Rs 25 lakh to each family as is being demanded by the kin of the victims?' he asked.
He made it clear that as the fire accident had happened to a private bus, the owners of the bus would have to pay proper ex gratia or any other compensation to the passengers' dependents.
The government would try to lend a helping hand to them in getting proper requital for the loss of their closed ones, he assured.
Speaking to mediapersons at Gandhi Bhavan here, the transport minister said it was not appropriate for the kin of the victims of the accident to make sweeping allegations at the government such as accusations that the administration was taking monthly bribes from the operators of private buses.
The Action Committee of Mahabubnagar Volvo Bus Fire Accident Victims had alleged that several ministers and Road Transport Authority officials were hand in glove with private bus operators.
Dismissing the allegations as meaningless, the minister said that ever since he assumed charge of the transport department, he had been taking steps to clamp down on private operators who were violating the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act.
'Till now, several private buses have been confiscated for violating norms. Road transport authorities continue to crack down on the operators of private buses for violating norms. They have seized several buses so far. While the reality is this, how could anybody level sweeping allegations at us?' he wondered.
Botcha claimed he issued orders to the enforcement wing of the transport department to go strictly by the rule book to prevent recurrence of such accidents.
News Posted: 28 December, 2013
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