Telangana State get lion's share in RTC

Hyderabad: The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation is slated to get more benefits post bifurcation. Officials have already started distributing assets to both regions following the bifurcation of the State.

The road transport corporation has properties worth over Rs 16,000 crore, of which the maximum number are in Telangana region. The officials have almost completed the exercise of bifurcation of the biggest corporation in Asia; the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation and it's only the permission required for the board to pass a resolution in this regard.

According to sources, the officials have come to a conclusion on various issues like regions, assets, depots, employees, buses, workshops and other issues. The officials need permission from the government to go ahead with its formula and seek clearance from the board of directors.

The distribution of employees would be a big problem for the corporation unlike other departments as the corporation has most of the employees stationed in their respective regions. It was also evident in the strike called by the unions against the bifurcation of the State.

The strike was evident in Seemandhra, but there was no impact in Telangana region. According to sources, the employees' distribution would be taken up in the ratio of 58:42. The corporation has 1,34,460 employees and about 69,359 employees would be for Seemandhra and Telangana State would have close to 62,000 employees.

The Bus Bhavan would be also divided to accommodate officers of both the States. It has been divided into two wings naming A & B. Presently, the chambers of RTC chairman is named as A and it would be given to Seemandhra and the B wing, which has chambers of VC and MD is named as B and would be given to Telangana State.

There are 19,246 buses owned by the corporation and it also contains 3,215 hired buses. After distribution, the TSRTC would have 9,064 and 1,342 hired buses whereas the Seemandhra would have 10,362 buses and over 3,000 hired buses.

The corporation has 216 bus depots and post bifurcation of which TSRTC would have 94 depots, whereas the Seemandhra state would have 122 depots. Telangana would get three area workshops whereas the Seemandhra would get four.

The challenge before officials would be the distribution of assets as they have decided to handover the assets to the respective regions. The properties of the corporation are worth over Rs 16,000 crore and most of the prime properties are in Telangana region.

The liabilities would be distributed as per the population ratio of the two States. The corporation has loans to the extent of Rs 4,600 crore. The area hospital situation in Tarnaka in the city would be shared by both the States.

Another building would be constructed for Seemandhra employees after the division. The revenue generated from RTC Kalyana Mandapam situated at Bagh Lingampally would be shared by the two States. Sources said that the board would have to approve the report of the officials after getting a clearance from the State government.