The Davangere Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation unit has made a profit of Rs 52 lakh, said Minister of Transport, N Cheluvaraya Swamy.
   Mr Cheluvaraya Swamy who was on his way to a private function in Hoovinahadagali, speaking to newspersons in Davangere said that the Corporation had made a profit of Rs 55 lakh.
   “There have been a lot of improvements in the corporation, in the last 10 years. Now, Shimoga has a separate KSRTC unit and there are depots in Bhadravathi, Harapanahalli and Channagiri. Foundation has been laid to start a depot in Sagar,” he informed.
   A sum of Rs 200 crore has been spent, during the last one year, on providing infrastructure, purchasing buses and renovation of bus stands.
   “We are trying our best to restrict the expenditure of each bus to Rs 7 lakh to Rs 8 lakh and provide good service at the same time. If we can manage this, then, no private company will be able to give us any competition. We have tried this in Hubli and Mangalore and have been successful,” added Mr Swamy.
   In the coming days, the Gulbarga unit will also see some major changes and have better facilities.
   The department has started the process of recruiting people for the 5313 posts including that of drivers, he said.
Stringent action
   The minister instructed the regional transport officers to take stringent action against the shop keepers in the bus stands who charge more than the MRP prices for any product. He also the RTOs should take steps to pass the order with regard to installing meters to the autorickshaws.
   JD(S) district unit President and Legislator H S Shivashankar, leaders N G Puttaswamy, APMC President B M Satish and others were present on the occasion.