Adding another feather in West Bengal’s crown, the state transport department has bagged three SKOCH awards. The awards have been conferred for e-ticketing system, makeover of city’s iconic transport-trams and the water transport.
Of the three, two awards have been bagged by the West Bengal Transport Corporation while the third one has been received by the Calcutta Transport Corporation. The department has received the nationallevel silver award for introducing ‘citizen friendly reforms of the 150 year old Kolkata Tramways’.
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Notably, the iconic transport department underwent a makeover in the recent past with the introduction of airconditioned bogies, colour coded maps, free Wi-Fi system, QR code payments, eticketing and so on.
The West Bengal Transport Corporation, which is the custodian of the city’s symbolic trams also introduced a tram library, tram art gallery, jute tram and converted an old unusable space into a museum of sorts, called the Tram World.
The recognition comes as a new ray of hope for the lovers of the heritage transport system which is still popular among all sections of the citizens of Kolkata. Another wing of the department that has won accolades in the form of Order of Merit is the water transport sector, also handled by the WBTC.
The department introduced river water cruises facilities at Rs 39 along with boat library, eticketing and combined ticketing in Ganga Sagar Mela. The third award, which is an Order of Merit, has been conferred to the department’s e-governance in the bus ticketing system in Kolkata and its adjoining areas.
Congratulating the department for the achievement, state transport minister Snehasis Chakraborty said, “It is great news that our work has been recognized at national level. The department is working hard to make more Citizen centric policies and schemes.
