DTC earnings go up under AAP govt: CM

Kejrwal gives pep talk to bus workers

The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has seen its coffers increase by about Rs 7 crore a month from March to August under the AAP government’s term, said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at Talkatora Stadium on Monday.

“If the employees are happy, the DTC will automatically make profit,” said Kejriwal while rewarding the employees of the public transporter which has been encountering financial problems for some time due to poor management.

Kejriwal quoted figures on fatal accidents and drew comparison between DTC buses and private cluster buses.

“There have been 18 fatal accidents involving DTC buses having a fleet of 4,500 buses whereas 20 such accidents have taken place involving 1,500 cluster buses,” he said, emphasising the need to felicitate drivers and conductors all the more.

The DTC ran into a financial crisis recently when it failed to pay pensions to its former employees for the past four months.

Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai said, “Since the AAP government came to power the buses have no longer been parked at the depots. They are rather seen shuttling commuters from one place to another.”

The DTC is also planning to hold public grievance sessions at its depots soon.

“From noon to 1 pm officials will be present in their offices to address the issues faced by the people,” said Kejriwal.

Kejriwal proposed that the DTC should implement a ‘suggestion box’ mechanism wherein a piece of advice by any employee should not be ignored if it impoves the efficiency of the public transporter.

“I have worked with private companies and such system goes a long way in enhancing the output,” he added.

The Delhi Transport Minister said that the DTC is working to address the employees constant demand for postings. “An online system to apply for one’s desired posting has been introduced by the DTC. But at the moment only a few drivers or conductors can be given postings of their choice,” Rai said.

There are over 32,000 employees with the DTC.

“Not all can be given postings as over 80 per cent of employees come from neighbouring states. But soon we will try to let as many people take its benefits as possible,” said Kejriwal.

Rai said that the best performing depots who received the award are Ghazipur Depot, Millennium Depot-IV, Hari Nagar Depot-I, Hari Nagar Depot-II, BBM Depot-I, Nangloi Depot, Ghummanhera Depot, Wazirpur Depot, Ambedkar Nagar Depot and Rohini Depot-IV. 

“The top 10 depots were selected according to their performance during the period from May 16 to June 15,” he added.

The key parameters for assessment of their performance were average fleet utilisation, operational ratio, kilometer efficiency, driver productivity per day, vehicle utilisation, earning per km, earning per bus and breakdown ratio.

The DTC operates 4,628 CNG buses including 1,275 AC and 2,506 non-AC low floor buses. The buses travel 9 lakh km a day carrying around 35 lakh passengers.