City may get electric buses soon: Minister

Conveying this to newsmen, the minister said, “the department is gearing up to improve the transport network in the city and across the state. I have already discussed the proposed schemes with Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisamy. We are planning to introduce electric buses in Chennai and we are in touch with two companies. One model bus has been asked for a ‘trial run’.” 

He added that the company had also responded positively to our request and electric buses would soon be hitting the city roads.” Apart from this, there were also plans to operate Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) buses with sleeper facilities, the minister added. He further said that necessary measures were being initiated to reduce the unnecessary expenditure in the transport department and to boost the revenue. Earlier in the day, talks between the transport corporation management and 11 unions were held in the presence of the Minister. 

Shanmugam, secretary of Labour Progressive Federation, said, “We listed our demands, which are yet to be conceded by the government. The minister and officials assured us that the demands will be considered positively.” Similarly, they also assured to look into our request to regularise the services of temporary employees, he said and added that they sought all relevant particulars in this regard. 

“Though we are satisfied with the talks, officials must make their stand clear on our demands at least now. There will certainly be another round of talks to arrive at a consensus,” said A Soundararajan, president of Tamil Nadu State Transport Employees Federation. 

The next round of talks is likely to be held in another 10 or 12 days, he added. When contacted, V Krishnamurthy, MD of MTC, who is head of the government panel, said that “Talks are progressing in the right direction and we are working on the demands of unions.” He also added that all the issues would be sorted out as early as possible.