Nagaland State Transport service punctured by fund shortage

Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, Feb. 23 (EMN): Deplorable road conditions and poor economic viability in the state had resulted in non-participation of private mass transportation systems and minimum to no connectivity of private transport services in remote villages, which had led to a greater demand for mass transportation through Nagaland State Transport (NST) bus services, according to Public Accounts Committee report which was laid during the recently concluded Assembly session.

Out of 54 demands for operation of routes, 11 were approved and notified by the state government but only seven were put to operation. Further, as on March 2016, only one out of seven was in operation, the report said.

The department stated that ‘availability of adequate fleet’ is the main requisite to meet the demand of the public for bus service. It said that new buses could not be acquired during the last three to four years due to lack of fund.

It informed that feasibility and viability studies on all the routes had been done but could not be operated due to ‘shortage of runner buses’. It added that the department required at least 350 ‘healthy/runner buses’ to overcome the present operational deficiency.

The department, as on March 2016, had 214 buses; a recovery van; and one truck, out of which, 117 buses and one recovery van were in operation. The remaining 97 buses and one truck were either proposed for condemnation/uneconomical for running or were lying in the central workshop for repairs.

The Audit’s examination further revealed that the department had received INR 0.50 crore for ‘renovation and upgrading of the fleet’ during 2014-15 and 2015-16 under a negotiated loan from the Housing and Urban Development Corporation. It added that the department had utilised only INR 0.30 crore for upgrading of the fleet and diverted INR 0.20 crore for purchase of three boleros, which are being used by the department.

The department in its reply stated that it did not receive sanction under ‘normal plan fund’ though INR 0.30 crore was earmarked under fleet acquisition for renovation of buses and purchase of bolero during 2014-15.

The planning process for running a department with such a vast network requires survey, feasibility study and assessment of the existing and additional requirements, stated the report.

However, examination of the activities undertaken by the NST department revealed that assessments were not carried out and surveys were taken only after receipt of demand from the public.

The bad road condition of the state mandates all stations and sub-stations to be prepared for any emergency arising due to breakdown of bus and accidents. The records revealed that only the central workshop in Dimapur had one functioning breakdown vehicle and none of the divisional workshops had breakdown vehicles, ambulances or mobile workshops. The department attributed the fact to ‘shortage of funds.’

Despite having sufficient technical personnel in the divisional workshops, almost all vehicles were sent to the central workshop for repairs and maintenance due to poor supply chain management. The system followed not only delayed the repairs and maintenance but also disrupted service and added burden to the central workshop in Dimapur.

The department also added that the technical staff posted in the divisions were already engaged in daily repair and replacement and maintenance of respective buses since ‘wear and tear is gradually increasing’ due to bad road condition and old age condition of buses.