37 transport dept staff suspended for irregularities

The government has suspended 22 personnel in connection with various irregularities that have been identified, Transport Minister D C Thammanna said Saturday.

Speaking to reporters, Thammanna said irregularities in the procurement of rexine, computers and servers had been detected. “It has been proved that irregularities to the tune of Rs 17 crore occurred in the purchase of computers and servers. Seven officials involved in this have been suspended,” he said.

Another 15 employees have been suspended for ‘forgery’ of the North East Karnataka Road Transport Corporation managing director’s signature in the transfer of 141 staffers, the minister said.

“We have ordered a probe into irregularities that have taken place in the last five years in coach building, spare parts purchases, and so on. For instance, Rs 112 crore was spent on coach building in 2017-18. I’ve sought a report on this,” he said.

“For spare parts, some random company’s name was used for purchases. This is the root cause for corruption. To stop this, we’ve planned to open an in-house spare parts shop,” he said.

Irregularities had been detected in all four transport corporations, apparently. “Corruption is resulting in losses. The BMTC alone suffers Rs 250 crore loss annually. If I get three years, I will make all corporations profitable,” Thammanna said.

A proposal has been sent to the government to revise ticket fares based on fuel prices, Thammanna said. “The last fare hike was in 2013-14. Transport corporations are suffering from losses. So, based on fuel prices, it has been suggested to revise ticket fares every three months,” he said.