By Aafaque Hussain
SHILLONG: The government-owned Meghalaya Transport Corporation (MTC) has incurred a loss of Rs 3,410.77 lakh in the past 10 years.
Reply to an RTI query by this scribe revealed that the corporation has operated in the red from 2005 to 2015 during which its loss was Rs 3410.77 lakh. The loss in the financial year 2013-14 was Rs 572.59 lakh.
The Corporation has also generated revenue of Rs 4493.19 lakh in the last ten years (2005-2015). It has recorded 42.10 lakh passengers from 2006-07 to 2015-16. The RTI reply indicated that the number of passengers marginally went down in the past 10 years. In 2006-07, 4.63 lakh passengers used MTC services that came down to 3.69 lakh in 2015-16.
As per the RTI, MTC owns 61 vehicles, out of which 56 is in running condition. MTC buses ply on 16 routes and have both day and night services. The corporation has as many as 232 employees.
Reacting to a query about steps taken to make MTC an efficient and revenue-generating body, the RTI reply stated that a performance report of all categories of staff is to be submitted on a bi-weekly basis for review. Also, training of employees, including officers, has been conducted in batches at the Central Institute of Road Transport in Pune. But there is no plan to privatise MTC.
A management information cell has been created for computerisation and cost-cutting measures are being implemented.
Though the MTC posted revenue of Rs 4493.19 in the last 10 years, salary of as many as 232 staff and pension liabilities have made the PSU a loss making unit.
The single chopper owned by MTC has earned revenue over Rs 1.83 crore in the past five years. The number of passengers using the service on the Shillong-Guwahati-Tura route was 12,566.
MTC charges Rs 1,500 per adult passenger for using the chopper service between Shillong-Guwahati, Rs 1,000 for children between two and 12 years and Rs 500 for infants below two years. MTC charges Rs 1,900 per passenger for Shillong-Guwahati-Tura, Rs 1,500 for children between two and 12 years and Rs 700 for infants below two years. It charges Rs 1,700 per person for Guwahati-Tura.
