Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, who also holds the portfolio of Transport Department, has sought support of the people of the state, especially the opposition to smoothly run Himachal Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) the lifeline of the state.

During the question hour in the state assembly at Tapovan (Dharamshala) in Kangra district on Friday, in response to the original question of

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Congress

MLA Chander Shekhar from Dharampur, Agnhotri said that efforts are underway to improve HRTC and the corporation’s income has started increasing.

He said that 96 per cent of HRTC routes are loss-making and in spite of this, neither the salary of any employee nor the pension amount is pending in the corporation.

He admitted that the Transport Corporation is clearing the liabilities of its employees and pensioners by taking grants from the government.

Not only this, HRTC has also started paying its drivers and conductors their overtime dues and all the overtime will be paid by March, he added.

Agnihotri said that the Transport Corporation currently has a fleet of 3200 buses and about 5 lakh passengers are traveling in the corporation’s buses on a daily basis.

“During the current financial year, more than 700 new buses are being added to the Transport Corporation, which includes 327 electric buses, 250 diesel buses, 100 Tempo Travellers and 24 Volvo buses. With the inclusion of these buses in the fleet of the corporation, the shortage of buses in the state will be overcome to a great extent,” he said.

He further said that there are currently 51 buses in the Dharampur depot, for which 62 drivers and 77 conductors are available.

He said that 36 of these buses have crossed their age limit. MLA Rakesh Jamwal and others also asked questions about the Transport Corporation.

In another question, Health Minister Dhani Ram Shandil shared that 1714 soldiers and officers from the state have been recognized as martyrs since independence.

In response to a question by Congress MLA Malender Rajan from Indora, he said that out of these, 736 officers and soldiers belong to Kangra district and out of these, 9 officers and soldiers are from Indora assembly constituency.

He said that the next of kin of battle casualties are being given ex-gratia amount, free bus travel facility in HRTC buses, financial assistance for the marriage of daughters and sons of war widows and one family member of soldiers in the armed forces is being given employment facility in the state according to their qualification.

He also said that action is being taken by the government to fulfill the assurances given from time to time in cases of battle casualties.