The state government planned a grand inaugural function for the opening of the new KSRTC bus terminal at Thampanoor on Monday. But the UDF ministers, including the chief minister, were given a rude shock by leader of the opposition V S Achuthananthan, who made some bitter remarks, completely taking the sheen off the event.
The war of words was kick started by Achuthanandan, who talked after chief minister Oommen Chandy’s inaugural address. He alleged that the government hastily organized the inauguration of the new terminal with the ensuing elections in mind. “I cannot find another reason for opening the terminal when many works are still pending,” he said. He also expressed his dissent over not giving the previous LDF government its due credit, despite it conceiving the idea and beginning the works in 2010.
He said that the present UDF government cannot take credit of the terminal as their lackadaisical attitude resulted in inordinate delay in completing the works.
He also said that the new terminal, which was expected to ease the traffic congestion in the city, would not serve its purpose unless the proposed project of a bus terminal at Eanchackal for long distance buses was realized. “The work on this project, which was mooted by the previous LDF government, has been stalled owing to the laxity of the present government,” he said.
The leader of opposition did not stop there and went on to flay the latest decision of the government to slash the pension of KSRTC staff and fix it at Rs 8,500 for all employees.
Transport minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan replied to Achuthanandan’s allegations by saying that only minor works were pending at the new terminal. Some of the works were left incomplete deliberately as it could be done only after the space in the terminal was leased out, suiting the needs of the occupants.
Regarding the Eanchackal bus terminal, Radhakrishnan said that the project needed to get further clearances and the work would begin immediately after getting those clearances.
He also declared that he would not draw his salary as transport minister unless and until he finds out a solution for the pension crisis. “Efforts are on to find out new sources to pay off the pension arrears,” he said.
He also said that the government has plans to introduce KSRTC parcel and courier services to address the financial crisis faced by the corporation.
Earlier, in his inaugural speech, chief minister Oommen Chandy said that the performance of public sector units can only be rated in terms of the quality of service they provided to the public and not in terms of profit.
Times of India
