Corporation stares at bankruptcy
SHILLONG: There have been talks of revamping the bleeding Meghalaya Transport Corporation (MTC) for long, but no such measures have been taken till date and the Corporation appears to be on the verge of bankruptcy.
Sources from the Transport Department on condition of anonymity told The Shillong Times that the Corporation has no money and is running only with the assistance of the State government.
According to sources, while there may be a plan to revamp the Corporation, such revamping would take some time since several loose ends have to be tied up.
Sources in the Department informed that Jowai is the weakest sector for the Corporation due to poor road condition. They also wonder how viable the sector is and how would the Corporation survive when its expenditure on salary is more than its revenue.
Sources also said that occupancy of the Corporation buses is not an issue as people still prefers them due to their safety records and reliability and occupancy is nearly always 100 per cent except for some days when it dwindles down to 60-70 per cent.
The biggest challenge for the Corporation is the maintenance of its buses which are old and depreciated. The wear and tear and need for maintenance are major issues.
Sources also pointed out that the Corporation currently has 44 buses in running condition and five were condemned recently since those were old.
“MTC is supposed to have 60 with some remaining off the road due to maintenance and other issues,” sources added.
Sources further informed that the Corporation is keen to buy new buses provided Government sanctions the required funds for it.
It is also said that the MTC has been operating in the red since the inception of the State and the accumulated losses in running the corporation is over Rs 106.23 crore. As per RTI filed last year, the government-owned MTC has incurred a loss of Rs 34 crore in the past 10 years.
In the past, MTC was pulled up by the one-man commission of inquiry led by Principal Secretary M.S Rao and also the Assembly Committee, but corrective measures were not taken by the Corporation.