Farmers Movement Archive

PRTC faces Rs 60 lakh loss; pvt operators provide buses to farmers

Patiala: The Punjab Bandh called by farmers in protest against agri ordinances exacerbated the losses incurred by Punjab Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) and private bus operators. PRTC, which has been facing losses in daily receipt since it resumed operations after the lockdown, faced Rs 60 lakh daily receipt loss on Friday. PRTC was running around 60% of its 1,075 buses since resumption of operations. The daily receipt of the corporation has come down to Rs 60 lakh from Rs 1.45 crore during the unlock period. Surinder Singh, PRTC general manager, operations, said, “We are running 60% of our total bus fleet. Due to the complete shutdown on Friday, we announced on Thursday that buses would not be operational. The corporation faced a loss of Rs 60 lakh as daily receipt.” Private bus operators also faced heavy losses during the pandemic and were getting fewer passengers during the unlock period. On Friday, bus operators extended help to agitating farmers by providing them with buses only on fuel cost. “We provided free buses to farmers as support to their Bandh call. Farmers only had to bear the expense of fuel for their travel. Around 70 buses from Bathinda and 50 from Mansa were provided to farmers a day before the protest. Across Punjab, around 2,000 buses were given to farmers without any charge or driver fee or any other profit. There are around 6,500 buses, including around 3,000 mini buses being run by private operators across the state. Of these, only 50% buses were operational during unlock period as passengers are far less than expectations,” said Baltej Singh, convener, Malwa Zone private bus operators’ union.

The Times of India

2020-09-27

Chandigarh