As many as 485 new buses are likely to be introduced in the Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KKRTC) in the next three-four months.
Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, who was addressing a gathering after distributing appointment orders to 1,600 drivers and driver-cum-conductors of KKRTC here on Tuesday, reiterated that the number of women passengers travelling in State-run buses has increased after the launch of the Shakti Scheme.
Mr. Reddy said that 165 crore women have benefited so far, with 1.10 lakh of them travelling every day. The State government is committed to purchasing more buses to benefit women passengers, he added.
The Minister said that the previous BJP government failed to purchase even a single new bus during its four-year tenure. It also neglected to fill vacant posts in the road transport corporations by taking up recruitment processes. Besides recruiting new drivers and driver-cum-conductors, the KKRTC has filled 1,804 vacant posts.
Kalaburagi City Transport has launched the Namma Kalaburagi Sarige software application that provides information of bus arrival-departure and route map of bus shuttles to passengers.
Mr. Reddy said that the family members of an employee are entitled to get ₹1.2 crore insurance upon the death of the employee and those who become permanently disabled in a road accident will get ₹1 crore. The KSRTC has increased compensation for road accident victims to ₹10 lakh from ₹3 lakh. In the last nine months, the KSRTC has appointed 88 employees on compassionate grounds.
Minister for Medical Education Sharan Prakash Patil and Aland MLA and advisor to Chief Minister B.R. Patil also spoke on the occasion.
Kalaburagi South MLA Allamprabhu Patil, Deputy Commissioner B. Fauzia Tarannum and KKRTC Managing Director M. Rachappa were present.
