Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday reiterated his government’s commitment to providing a level playing field to all stakeholders in the state’s transport sector and said that the Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC), has reported an operating profit of Rs. 9.21 Crores between April 2017 to December 2017.Flagging off a fleet of 25 new buses of PRTC the Chief Minister said the increase in operating profit reflected the transformation in the sector, which was being modernized to provide a better transport infrastructure in the state.Noting that the daily income of PRTC had increased from Rs. 106 Lakh to Rs. 123 Lakh, the Chief Minister said the addition of 25 of the planned 100 buses would take the PRTC bus strength to 1075 and enabling the state carrier to ply its fleet on total 3.75 Lakh Kilometers per day in the state. All the non-operational routes would be revived with the completion of the total targeted strength of 1075 buses.The Chief Minister congratulated PRTC for its sustained efforts to bring the state carrier back on track, Chief Minister pointed out that as many as 150 new buses had already been added since his government took over in March last year, and the process of strengthening the infrastructure would continue. He lashed out at the erstwhile SAD-BJP government for its deliberate mismanagement and exploitation of the transport sector for their personal gains.
In response to a question regarding Rana Gurjit’s resignation from the cabinet, Captain Amarinder said the resignation was voluntary. The Commission of Inquiry set up to probe the sand mining auctions had done its job and there was no need to confuse these two issues, said the Chief Minister.Welcoming the reported demand for an award to Shaheed-E-Azam Bhagat Singh in Pakistan, he said it was long overdue and the sacrifice of the great martyr was unparalleled in history.Responding to a query regarding joining of sportswoman Harmanpreet Kaur as DSP in Punjab Police, Chief Minister said that he had already written to the Railways twice and hoped she would be relieved soon so that she could join as DSP at the earliest.Prominent among those who were present on the occasion, included Education Minister Aruna Chaudhary, MLAs Darshan Singh Brar, Harjot Kamal, Chairman PRTC KK Sharma and MD PRTC Manjit Singh Narang besides Chief General Manager SBI Anil Kishore, General Manager SBI Sanjay Kumar and Chief Liaisoning Officer SBI Sanjay Sharma.