Rs 327 crore for HRTC to buy e-buses: Himachal CM

Tribune News Service

Shimla, August 6

The Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) will be transformed into a ‘green transportation system’ as more electric buses are being introduced in its existing fleet of 110 e-buses and 50 e-taxis, said Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu here today.

Sukhu, who presided over a meeting of the HRTC, said that Rs 327 crore had been provided for purchasing electric buses and the process was underway to procure 2,000 additional type-II e-buses. The entire fleet of diesel buses would be replaced by e-buses in a phased manner, he added.

He said, “In the first phase, the HRTC is plying six buses to Ayodhya to facilitate pilgrims with a plan to add more buses, if necessary. Besides, it is also providing bus services to other religious places.”

Sukhu said that the state government would provide all possible assistance to the corporation to revive itself from financial losses and become a profitable organisation. “The HRTC, which is the lifeline of the hill transport system, plays a pivotal role in providing reliable services to people. More than 12,000 employees are the backbone of the corporation,” he added.

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, who also attended the meeting, said that the HRTC was providing reliable transport services in the challenging terrains of the state.

He said that the employees and pensioners of the organisation were now receiving their salaries and pension on the first day of every month for the past seven months, whereas during the previous BJP government, they had to wait for eight to 10 days to get their salaries released.

Online platform ‘Him-access’ to provide 261 citizen-centric services

• A unified online platform, ‘Him-access’, designed to provide citizen-centric services by consolidating all government social security schemes, will be launched soon, said the Chief Minister at a meeting of the Digital Technologies and Governance Department
• This platform will enable citizens and government officials to access multiple department applications with one click, ensuring data accuracy and consistency.
• The platform is scheduled to be launched in October this year and will offer 261 services at present available on the e-district portal
• The Chief Minister directed officials to develop websites for Milkfed and Natural Farming, emphasising the importance of modern technology in department functioning and to facilitate efficient, transparent and citizen-centric services
• He said that the state government was incorporating modern technology in the functioning of all departments to facilitate people