After offering free travel to womenfolk, the Telangana government is considering various options including leasing out of its land parcels across the state.
The state’s transport corporation having accumulated loses running into Rs 6,000 crore, considering getting finances to finance the changed policy to allow zero-ticket travel among the women in the state. The corporation has already issued e-tender notification offering leasing of its land parcels besides shops and other spaces at their bus stations.
The process of monitising the fixed assets would help the corporation helping in protecting the huge land parcels from land grabbers, and also will fetch finances to the corporation. For instance, the corporation hold huge landed property in and around the State capital at Kachiguda, RTC X Roads, Medchal, Hakimpet, Shamirpet etc.
The corporation is contemplating to monitising properties for several years, but it could not take up the task for various reasons. But with the change in the guard at the government which is expected to ground its ‘popular schemes’, it would be a easy way to raise funds, well before it can obtain the assembly nod.
The leasing out initiative would enable the corporation to get into newer formats like tea and fruit stalls, nurseries, bookstalls, retail formats and paid parking spaces etc, considering the corporation’s land holding in the centre of urban locations and also bus stations.
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Free Travel for Women
Economists say, good politics leads to bad economy. But always it proved otherwise. In the unified Andhra Pradesh, Sri Rajasekhar Reddy had given call for free power to agriculture. It led to uproot Telugu Desam government led by Chandrababu Naidu.
Then the economists said it would be difficult to offer free-power for long, it would result in drain-of-exchequer. But Rajasekhar Reddy government could withstand to all the opposition. Today the free-power scheme is part of every government in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Economics always proved wrong against the political-will. And if the government is determined to implement any ‘populist’ scheme, it will make it successful. It means, when people want something, then the governments have to do without looking at possibilities and finances.
Now, the present congress government led by Reventh Reddy is also on the same footing like that of Rajasekhar Reddy. The Congress government made – free travel to women in state transport busses – as an election promise and accordingly Mr Reventh Reddy as its Chief Minister will have to implement.
There is lot of noise saying impossible, government will not have enough finance, and many more. But the scheme is grounded and continuing. However, there is some concern about the financial capacity of TSRTC (Telangana State Road Transport Corporation), the nodal corporation which run busses in the state.
According to the statistics, the corporation has 11 regions, 97 depots and about 9,000 and odd busses. It operates length and breadth of the entire state. The corporation runs in losses, which necessitated the earlier government to merge the corporation with the government, but the government of the day failed to get the Governor’s assent to the bill, as the Governor raised pertinent questions like: about the share of central government in the corporation and how the government think to handle its assets, especially landed property across the state.
The vows will not end for the corporation here. Though, it had plans to buy about 1,000 busses in order to meet the demand, the proposal was kept in the cold storage due to lack of funds. But the urgency is now raise again with the present government offering free-travel for women, the occupancy rate is increased phenomenally.
The free-travel scheme is running success and the demand is over 100% in at least about 45 depots. This policy decision has brought cheers among the workforce, who are anticipating growth in the corporation’s income, provided if the government pays for the zero-tickets issued to women passengers.
As per the earlier experience that never the government pays for the free-bees while the dues will increase. Let us wait and watch, how this government deals with the payment part.
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TS’s policy to lease out TSRTC properties is a welcome initiative. However, finances accured through such means may not be enough to cover even a fraction of the existing Rs 6,000 cr lose. But the leasing policy is an interesting one.