Hyderabad, May 31 (IANS) Telangana Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said on Sunday that the merger of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) with the government would be undertaken after the elections for the recognised trade union.

He stated that elections for the recognised TGSRTC trade union would be conducted shortly and that the process of merging the RTC with the government would be undertaken following consultations with the elected representatives.

The minister said every precaution was being taken to ensure that no disputes or hurdles arise during the merger process and urged employees not to harbour any apprehensions.

He assured that all issues concerning RTC employees would be resolved and advised them to dispel any misconceptions.

The minister informed that, under the leadership of the Deputy Chief Minister, discussions were held involving five ministers, senior officials and 40 RTC representatives, resulting in the sanctioning of an 11 per cent pay revision for employees.

Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, accompanied by Minister for IT, Industries and Legislative Affairs Duddilla Sridhar Babu and Government Whip Vijaya Ramana Rao, inspected the proposed site for the bus depot at the Peddapalli district headquarters.

The Transport Minister announced that steps were being taken to expedite the construction of the RTC bus depot. He said the depot would be inaugurated soon.

Speaking on the occasion, Ponnam Prabhakar said Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had sanctioned the RTC bus depot for Peddapalli following requests from Government Whip Vijaya Ramana Rao and senior Minister Sridhar Babu.

He noted that although work on the bus depot had faced some delays, steps had now been initiated to accelerate the process and ensure its early inauguration.

He further stated that measures were being taken to significantly improve bus connectivity in rural areas, adding that the demand for RTC bus services to villages had increased following the implementation of the free bus travel scheme for women.

The Transport Minister said the process of procuring new RTC buses was underway to meet public demand and that the government was striving to further strengthen the RTC within the public transport system.

–IANS

ms/pgh