HRTC: Rs 23 crore dues pending for collection, BJP owes Rs 8 crore, Congress owes Rs 4 crore, State Election Department owes Rs 11.50 crore
Shimla, July 18: The financial difficulties of the Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) have reached a critical point as major political parties owe crores of rupees for using HRTC buses during rallies and events. This mounting debt has significantly affected the corporation’s ability to release pensions and other allowances to its employees, further aggravating HRTC’s financial difficulties.
The HRTC, which is already facing a budget shortfall, has been making efforts to increase its income and has seen some improvement this year. Despite these efforts, the corporation’s financial situation still remains fragile. Its financial challenges are further compounded by non-payment of dues from political events; the corporation is yet to receive payments for the buses used in election-related and festive events organised by these parties.
The BJP owes the HRTC Rs 8 crore for buses hired for rallies, including those used during the Azadi Mahotsav in Himachal Pradesh.
Similarly, the Congress party owes Rs 4 crore for buses used during the celebration of the first year of its government.
Besides, the state election department has not paid the fare of about 1,300 buses hired for transporting polling parties during the Lok Sabha elections, amounting to about Rs 11.50 crore.
The HRTC has confirmed that dues worth about Rs 23 crore are pending for collection. The issue was discussed in a recent meeting of the Board of Directors (BOD) of Himachal Pradesh Path Parivahan Nigam, where it was decided to issue letters to the debtors urging them to make early payments.The corporation management has initiated this correspondence requesting immediate payment of dues, highlighting the poor financial condition of the HRTC. The BOD meeting underlined the importance of these payments to stabilise the financial position of the corporation. The decision to issue formal requests for payments reflects the urgency of the situation. The HRTC hopes that political parties and the state election department will respond swiftly to these requests, enabling the corporation to meet its financial obligations, including releasing pensions and allowances to its employees.
Apart from the outstanding bills for political events, HRTC’s financial difficulties are further compounded by the burden of several loss-making routes. The corporation operates several routes that, despite being loss-making, provide crucial connectivity to remote areas, sometimes serving only a single person. Recently, the HRTC management decided to close some of these loss-making routes, but it is clear that the corporation needs more than these measures.
Increasing fiscal stress is being fuelled by the huge salary and pension burden. The cost of maintaining a large workforce and meeting pension obligations has put further pressure on the already limited resources of HRTC. To overcome the financial misfortune of HRTC, it is necessary to improve its overall functioning and services.
As the corporation awaits these crucial funds, the focus is on political parties and the state election department to honour their financial commitments and support HRTC’s efforts to maintain services and meet its obligations to its employees.
The question is: who is responsible for HRTC’s financial problems? The combination of outstanding bills, the burden of loss-making routes and rising salary and pension costs highlights the need for a comprehensive solution to address the corporation’s current financial challenges.
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