he Kadamba Transport Corporation (KTC), which is the State’s carrier of Goa hasn’t earned the status of State Transport (ST) for valid reasons. Generally in the news for the wrong reasons, KTC has over a period of over 40 years become synonymous with losses and frequent breakdowns. Regular pass holders have also long been demanding for better services.
The Corporation in its very introduction on its web portal concedes that since its inception, it has been operating in competition with the private operators. KTC also says that they are unable to meet the entire demand of the State’s public transport, but are presently operating across Goa. The Liberalisation Policy, the amendment in the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 and the increasing input costs in terms of material and labour – have had a direct impact on the cost of operation, according to its website.
Among the many issues that concern the public, especially the regular commuters, is that of the bus depots.
The unfulfilled promise of developing the Margao Bus depot is a glaring example of how KTCL has failed to create the necessary infrastructure to meet the requirements of today’s times.
Established after the Central depot in Porvorim, Margao depot of KTC has a huge land for command and has been there for several decades. The canteen of KTC depot has been closed for over year now. The staff of KTC has increased but the conditions of toilets, restrooms have deteriorated.
Another issue, which has troubled the public, has been with KTCL’s problems in reigning in losses incurred every year.
An official who spoke to Herald on the condition of anonymity said that right from vehicle parts to subletting services, decisions taken have not improved the financial position of KTCL.
“Look at the health of the vehicles. It is common to see a vehicle breaking down and this not only causes inconvenience to the passengers on board, it also usually means that route will have less than usual vehicles plying on it,” said the official.
Sources added that KTCL loses a sizeable amount of daily revenue due to these breakdowns and blame is placed on the parts that were procured for the buses. Questions have been raised on the quality of spare parts.
In this regard, there has also been criticism over its dated rate contract system of procurement – a cost reduction strategy aimed at standardizing procurement prices for commonly procured, homogenous and price varying inputs.
Presently, two out of the several brands of buses are serviced by the annual maintenance contracts signed with an automobile company and the job is done well. However, the work of repairs of other buses has been sublet leaving no work for the large number of garage staff of KTC.
Now the buses, which break down, need to come to the Margao or Porvorim workshop for major repairs. But here too, the mechanics, sizeable in number are kept jobless while KTC has signed contracts with private garages for repairs.
The air-conditioned buses servicing the Panjim- Margao route are fuel guzzlers and are often, holed up at the garages on account of frequent breakdowns. Kadamba officials feel the price of this
AC bus service could have been increased and those funds could be used for better maintenance.
Secondly, they point out that the grant received for servicing is not enough and not factoring high costs such as diesel and other expenses.
Politicians have called on KTCL to be more financially prudent when it comes to reviewing the revenue generated from buses plying on various routes, including ferrying school children and also the salaries of the drivers, conductors viz a viz the number of trips made. Also, for KTCL be able to soak in setbacks such as the closure of Belgaum –Goa- Anmod Ghat route as well as addressing issues related to GST.
Moreover, many decisions have come under criticism such as subletting major routes or not being competitive enough in services like the parcel delivery and ticket booking systems.
One area, where that KTCL has been urged to look into, is scaling the inter-State bus services and sorting out all the problems that have prevented KTCL from being a major player on these profit-making routes.
Speaking about the improving the finances of KTCL, its former Chairman and Congress MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco said, when the 6th pay commission was given, he was of the opinion of linking their rise in salary to revenue as he felt they were and are still not doing enough.
“Whenever there are plans to make some important improvements, there is interference from the transport ministers. After donating buses under JNNURM (Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Rejuvenation Mission), they still haven’t been able to improve. KTCL should distinguish between profitable and service routes and fix responsibility on drivers and conductors to make it profitable or remove them,” added Reginaldo.
The KTCL General Manager Sanjay Ghate agreed that there is a problem but he defended KTCL’s decisions and pointed out that they have several plans in place to improve on various fronts.
“The cost escalation of diesel cost, spares cost and taxes have been very high over the years. However due to the increasing Bharat Stage vehicle standards and the technological improvement, a lot of expenses have been saved and breakdowns have reduced,” added Ghate.
He conceded that they are still dealing with breakdowns and added that they are examining the teething problems that come with adopting new technologies.
When asked to comment on the perception that KTCL is suffering due to the high salaries received by the staff, Ghate said the KTC staff is underutilised but not unused.
Speaking about the road ahead, he referred to prevailing systems in other areas including abroad, which can be replicated in Goa, wherein the public is encouraged to use the services more often. He also referred to the success of initiatives such as an all day pass etc.
In terms of revenue, he felt that there was a need for various departments to come together, such as Urban Development, Transport under the ambit of a public transport policy.
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KTC will turn 40 next year
The Kadamba Transport Corporation Ltd. (KTCL) is a State transport Undertaking of the state of Goa established in the year 1980. The transport company was established with the objective to provide safe, reliable, comfortable, punctual effective and efficient passenger transport to the traveling public. KTCL has both Intrastate and intercity bus services to Maharashtra and Karnataka. On record, KTC operates 220 routes by its fleet. The Corporation has major four depots at Margao, Panaji, Porvorim and Vasco with a Central workshop at Porvorim. KTCL operates shuttle services known as point to point buses connecting major commercial towns like Panaji, Margao, Vasco, Mapusa, Ponda, Curchorem,Sanqelim etc.
The corporation has a total of 14 Bus stands in Goa which include Panjim, Margao, Ponda, Vasco, Marcela, Mapusa, Sakhali, Bicholim, Assonora, Honda, Cuncolim, Canacona Shiroda and Curchorem Bus Stand. The Corporation has a fleet strength of over 450 buses.
