NK Impact | Stop re-employment and fresh appointment in ASTC without approval of the State Cabinet: CM Sarma

Guwahati, June 26 (NKTV): Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma today reviewed the functioning of the Commissionerate of Transport, Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) and Inland Water Transport under the Department of Transport in a meeting held at his office at Janata Bhawan today.

The CM, after a detailed review of the roles and responsibilities of the Commissionerate of Transport, directed the Transport Department to maintain a close watch on the movement of overloaded coal trucks to check loss of government revenue. He also asked to identify road tax defaulters and speed up fine realization. The Chief Minister also instructed the department to moot up a plan for a ‘driving and soft skill training’ of 5000 youths across Assam.

Sarma, after taking stock of the activities of ASTC, asked the officials to examine the operational system of the public transport operator for streamlining its functioning. He directed the department to facilitate better environment for operation of more private operator buses (POBs) under ASTC besides increasing involvement of its own buses in oil PSUs to give a major push to its revenue generation.

The Chief Minister further directed the department to ensure that no Board meeting of ASTC is held without the participation of representatives of Transport, Finance and Public Enterpises Departments. He also directed to stop re-employment and fresh appointment in ASTC henceforth without approval of the State Cabinet.

The CM also advised the department to prepare a vision plan for ASTC to make it a profitable entity in next five years and carry out asset monetization exercise at the earliest.

Further reviewing the activities of Inland Water Transport (IWT), the Chief Minister directed to reorient the functioning of IWT Directorate with special focus on cargo and cruise movement. He asked the officials to explore feasibility for joint venture by IWT and Tourism Department and take steps for operation of cruise service over Brahmaputra River from Guwahati to Kaziranga National Park catering to the needs of domestic tourists.

Transport Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary, Chairman of ASTC Ashok Kumar Bhattarai, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Samir Kumar Sinha, Principal Secretary of Transport Department KK Dwivedi, Transport Commissioner Adil Khan, Director of Inland Water Transport Gautam Das, MD ASTC Rahul Das and other senior officials were present in the review meeting.