The Maharashtra government under its ‘MissionBeginAgain’ will soon start inter-district services of state transport (ST) buses, and allow coaching centres to open with instructions to follow social distancing norms.
The ST bus services had remained closed since March 22. Minister of Relief and Rehabilitation Vijay Wadettiwar on Saturday said only 20 passengers will be allowed to travel at a time in an ST bus.
The decision is expected to bring a sigh of relief to thousands of people considering that ST buses have been a lifeline in rural and semi-urban. Currently, the inter-district services are being regulated by an e-Pass, which is being handled by the police across the state. This facility is mainly for essential services and not for general members of the public.
The government has already allowed intra-district bus services in Pune and some more districts in its efforts to restart economic activities.
Wadettiwar said the government will also allow reopening of coaching classes and competitive exam training centres with social distancing.
As far as the commencement of suburban services in Mumbai is concerned, he said, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is affirmative about it. However, he informed, the Centre has said that the local services will remain shut till August 31.
The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation with 18,000 buses covers every nook and corner of the state. It employs almost 34,000 drivers and as many conductors. However, it is incurring a daily loss of Rs 22 crore, while the cumulative losses have surged to more than Rs 6,000 crore. MSRTC had to pay 50% salary to its employees because of the cash crunch.
MSRTC has sought Rs 2,000 crore from the state government to stay afloat. Against this backdrop, Wadettiwar said they hope that the commencement of inter-district services will not only benefit the public but also partially help the MSRTC tide over it cash crunch.
As far as the reopening of coaching classes are concerned, the Maharashtra Coaching Classes Association had made several representations to the state government on the grounds teachers in these institutes were finding it difficult to survive. Besides, they have to pay rent for office space and other expenses in the absence of any income since March 22.
