Express News Service By

HYDERABAD: In a unique gesture, employees and officials of the AP State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) have contributed a day’s salary for buying buses.

Thus, the management has got `4 crore, with which it purchased 24 Palle Velugu buses; one each for 22 districts and two for Hyderabad.

It has been painted on the buses that they are purchased with donation from employees. The buses will be inaugurated not by any senior official or bureaucrat, but by the employees of the corporation in each district.

“The corporation is facing financial problems and we wanted to do our bit. Apart from that, there are people’s complaints about RTC services. We wanted to regain the trust of the passengers. Considering these reasons, we agreed to the proposal,” said K Padmakar, general secretary, APSRTC Employee Union. V Tirupathi, president, RTC Telangana Mazdoor Union, said the employees will be motivated through this act.

“This act of the employees will fill passengers with positive feeling while boarding the buses and the employees’ commitment toward the society improves,” said a top official of the corporation.

The official said they had made the proposal of contributions and employee union leaders agreed to it. “At times, when people stage protests for their own benefit, this act of the employees comes as a breath of fresh air. This will improve participatory functioning of the corporation,“ said the official. He hoped that the employees will be filled with moral confidence when they ask the government funds. “Even authorities might be pleased by this effort,” said the official. A total of 1,22,286 employees work in the corporation. Connecting 23,388 villages, RTC renders services to about 137 lakh passengers everyday.