After five years, Mhaji bus scheme takes off on pilot project

MARGAO
Around half-a-decade after the concept was first unveiled by the government, the Mhaji Bus Scheme was finally flagged off as a pilot project by Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho at the Margao KTC bus stand on Friday.

Out of the 187 private buses plying across the State, around 25 private buses running on various routes in South Goa have opted for the scheme. Ticket collection on these Mhaji buses will be collected by the conductor appointed by the Kadamba Transport Corporation. Bus owners will have to take care of the driver, besides the upkeep and maintenance of the buses. The government has made a budgetary provision of Rs 10 crore for the implementation of the scheme.

Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho announced that the private buses running under the Mhaji bus scheme will offer all the existing concessions to the commuters, including 50 per concession for the students, senior citizens and free travel for the cancer patients and other section of society.

“Finally, 25 bus owners have joined the Mhaji bus scheme. Since there are 187 private buses in the State, I will move the file depending on the response from the remaining bus owners so that they too are taken on board,” he said.

He added: “I had moved the file for the Mhaji bus scheme around two and half years ago, but the Finance Department blocked the scheme since they did not understand the salient features. Next time, the Finance Department will have to think twice before rejecting any file. Sometimes good decisions are not getting clearance from the Finance Department.”

PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral said there would be teething problems while implementing any scheme, adding that the government would overcome all problems to ensure that the Mhaji bus scheme becomes a success. Margao MLA Digambar Kamat and KTC Chairman Ulhas Tuenkar exuded confidence that the scheme would help the bus operators bring their buses on the road post-Covid and also provide better amenities to the travelling public.

Mauvin said the Mhaji bus scheme offers a win-win situation for the government as well as the private bus operators. “There are many routes which are only run by the KTC since they are nationalised. Instead of investing in the KTC, private operators can come forward to invest in buses and the government will hire them. Since bus business is being run by Goans and we are not going to take away the bus routes from the private operators, but we want them to run the transport system properly,” Mauvin said, while saying all the existing concessions will be applicable for the beneficiaries, including the student community and the monthly pass holders.

Explaining the salient features of the Mhaji bus scheme, KTC General Manager, S L Ghate said the pilot scheme will help the private operators to bring their off road buses on the road. “Due to Covid, most of the private buses remained off the road since they could not pay the insurance, and meet the huge diesel bill,” he said.

He said the scheme will also help the government to keep a tab on the number of people using buses for their daily travel. “Around 85,000 people travel by the KTC buses every day. We have no details of the commuters using the private buses since they do not issue the tickets,” he said, adding that the process of installing devises on the Mhaji buses for constant tracking will start soon.

General Secretary of Bus Owners Sudip Tamankar urged the government to help the private bus owners to get all the buses on the road.