The West Bengal government has decided to bring the three transport corporations - CTC, CSTC and WBSTC under one roof to cut down expenses, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said today.
The move, however, would not affect any staff of the three corporations, she said.
"For the last four years we (the state) have been paying huge amounts for the loans every year. Even this year we have to pay. We have so many projects going on and many more have been announced. We have to continue working for them. So we need to find out from where we can save.
"There is no point in keeping three corporations at a time. If we can bring these three corporations under one umbrella, we will be able to cut down not only on our expenses, but they will be operated smoothly," Banerjee said at the state secretariat Nabanna.
"There is nothing to worry about for the workers of these corporations... They will be accommodated. We will take their opinion regarding their choice and then accordingly try to work out on that," the Chief Minister said.
Trinamool Congress MLA from Tarakeswar Rachchpal Singh has been appointed as Chairman of the integrated board for the Calcutta State Transport Corporation (CSTC), the Calcutta Tramways Company Limited (CTC) and the West Bengal Surface Transport Corporation (WBSTC).
TMC MLA Swarnakamal Saha would be the Vice-Chairman, while MLAs Nayana Bandhyapadhyay and Sujit Bose would be directors for the integrated board.
According to a senior official of the state transport department, this was a "landmark" step taken to cut down expenses.
A study conducted by the Jones Lang LaSalle in 2013-14, a professional services and investment management company specialised in real estate, showed with the three corporations having several buses in same routes was creating an inefficient counter production and competition resulting in huge loss for the government, he said.
