Punjab Transport Minister Amarinder Singh Raja Warring on Sunday, conducted a surprise check at Bathinda Bus Stand to review the basic arrangements including cleanliness at toilets and shops besides availability of potable RO drinking water at the Bus Stand. He also directed the General Manager PRTC Raman Sharma to pay more attention to the cleanliness of the bus stand and ensure that shops/stalls inside the Bus Stand are located at designated areas.On the direction of the Transport Minister, Regional Transport Authority Bathinda Balwinder Singh and GM Raman Sharma, while checking the buses at Bathinda Bus Stand, impounded and challaned three buses being operated illegally. Two buses belonged to Orbit Aviation, while, one was owned by Malwa Transport Company.
Mr. Raja Warring said that about 300 buses operating illegally in the state have been impounded so far, of which 35 buses belong to Bathinda district alone. He said that when the bus operators are collecting the tax from passengers in form of tickets, why they are not paying the tax to the government. He appealed to bus operators to not ply buses without paying tax.The Transport Minister, while interacting with the employees at PRTC Bathinda, assured the Employees Unions to regularise the contractual employees and further new recruitments would be done on a regular basis only. The Minister also listened to the grievances of the employees and directed the concerned officials to resolve their genuine problems at the earliest.On the occasion, Transport Minister Raja Warring also met private transporters and assured them that the state government won’t take any illegal action against any transporter. He urged transporters to not operate buses without paying tax.