MSRTC has no funds to pay wage bill, staffers threaten stir

Maharashtra’s Transport Minister Shivajirao Moghe has publicly admitted that the Corporation is struggling to make good accumulated losses worth Rs 711 crore.

MSRTC, probably the biggest government undertaking of its kind in the world, has come to this impasse owing to a combination of factors. Perhaps the biggest contributor to a dramatic decline in the Corporation’s revenue is the blind eye turned by the Government towards the private operators.

During the last five years of Shiv Sena-BJP rule in particular, the number of private passenger carriers has grown sharply. In law, they are permitted only to carry a fixed group of passengers from one point to another. Only MSRTC vehicles are allowed to ferry passengers who board or disembark at different halts along a route. This means that the entire lot of private passenger carriers are operating illegally.

The profit-oriented private operators obviously choose only those routes and sectors where passenger traffic is heavy. So while the MSRTC has to compete with them on the profitable routes, it has to bear the burden of operating on the non-profitable routes by itself.

Even for the busy routes in the rural areas, the MSRTC has to compete with small clandestine operators who run jeeps without any form of permit or authorisation.

The amount of damage the private operators are causing to the State Transport Corporation can be gauged from the fact that in 1998-1999 alone, its losses were to the tune of Rs 143 crore. It would be impossible for the private operators to function without political patronage.

The other contributors to the Corporation’s losses are Passenger Tax it pays to the Government, the burden of concessions it has to bear and the rising diesel prices.

The State Government has been charging the MSRTC Passenger Tax at the rate of 17.5 per cent. At this point in time, the Corporation owes the State Government about Rs 44 crore in Passenger Tax and this is why it is unable to pay its employees on time. Pleas to cut the rate of this tax have not been conceded.

Acting out of populist considerations, different regimes in the State have offered concessions to different groups of passengers including children, women, aged, legislators and even journalists. The MSRTC has been asking the State Government to re-imburse the sum it loses owing to the concessions announced by its political masters. This proposal too, has been rejected.

All this has eaten away at the vitals of this behemoth organisation with its fleet of over 16,000 vehicles and workforce of over a lakh.

The employees have formed a joint action committee consisting of the Rashtriya Motor Kamgar Union, Maharashtra Motor Kamgar Federation, Maharashtra Parivahan Mazdoor Union and Castribe S T Karmachari Sanghatana.

Leaders of these unions have jointly condemned the lack of political will in the State which has led to the crumbling of MSRTC. The huge losses were caused by faulty policies, neglect and dirty politics and not by the staff’s inefficiency. The employees should not be made to suffer, they contend.

As an example of the unhealthy political interference, the union leaders point towards the appointment of the corporation’s vice chairman-cum-managing director. Earlier, this post would be occupied by an IAS officer who could ably manage the organisation. The Sena-BJP government, however, tampered with this tradition and appointed a relative of Sena supremo Bal Thackeray on this post.

As a result, all control over the administration was lost and the corporation made unprecedented losses during the last five years.

The unions have urged Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh to personally look into this serious matter and ensure that the employees get their salaries on time. They have warned that the unrest brewing among the employees could erupt without any notice.