The widow and other family members of the martyrs of paramilitary forces would be provided with free travel facility in Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) buses in the state.

This was stated by Transport Minister Govind Thakur after the meeting of Board of Directors of HRTC. Announcing the decision, Thakur said after the gruesome Pulwama attack on CRPF personnel, the government has decided to provide free travel facility to the families of the martyrs of CRPF and other paramilitary forces.

Earlier, the facility was only provided to the martyrs of armed forces in Himachal Pradesh, he added.

The transport minister also announced to enhance the fleet of electric buses in the state and said around 50 electric buses are being purchased for operations in the state capital Shimla.

One electric bus, which is the part of 50 bus fleet, has reached Shimla and it would be flagged off by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Monday, he said. The old fleet of HRTC buses, which used to ply in city limits, would now be used to provide transport services in rural areas of the state capital.

“Himachal has become a pioneer state in plying environment-friendly electric vehicles for public transport. The HRTC is already plying 25 electric buses in Manali and 50 electric taxis in the state to conserve environment,” he said. He said that the Transport department has released pension to employees who had retired till 2017 and the pension of employees retired till December 1, 2018, would soon be released.

He said he had raised the issue of pensioners with the chief minister and the government has released Rs 13 crore for the pension of employees who had retired in 2018.

Thakur said the department has also launched a scheme to award depots (top three), drivers, and conductors (depot wise) on the basis of their performance.

They would be provided with cash prize to encourage others to perform well. In the meeting, 83 drivers and conductors were honoured.

Replying to a query, Thakur said the government was taking initiatives to reduce road accidents and HRTC would organize Refresher Course for drivers for road safety.

In the meeting, several issues pertaining to Peacemeal workers and other employees, who were hired under various heads on temporary basis, were raised and the department has decided to bring in a policy to bring them on contract.

The department is aiming to provide them financial benefits and bring them on contract after formulating a policy for them, he said, adding that all such employees would now be brought under one head.

Thakur also announced 3 percent Dearness Allowance (DA) to HRTC employees and raised the DA for pensioners from existing 130 percent to 134 percent. He said the HRTC would soon hire 500 drivers and 500 conductors to overcome the shortage of staff in public transport service. The fleet of HRTC buses would also be increased to 3,109 from the existing 3,000 buses.