With the Punjab government failing to reimburse ₹450 crore to the Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) against the free travel scheme for women travellers, the corporation’s coffers are running empty, leaving it struggling to meet even day-to-day expenses, including payment of salaries.
The PRTC, which has the biggest fleet of over 1,109 buses, has not received dues for over six months now, barring around ₹35 crore, which was disbursed in October, officials disclosed.
“With no funds, salaries of PRTC employees for the month of November will not be released any time soon,” said PRTC officials.
The PRTC’s daily income is around ₹2.35 crores. Of this, around ₹1.30 crores is from women travelers – which has to be reimbursed by the government under the free women travel scheme, launched by the Congress government in 2021.
Confirming the development, a senior PRTC official, pleading anonymity, said, “We have already written to the government to reimburse the amount at the earliest as we have to release salaries for the month of November.”
PRTC worker unions convenor Nirmal Singh Dhaliwal said, “Though the scheme has increased PRTC’s daily income, the delay by the government in releasing the dues has affected the financial health of PRTC. As there are no funds, employees will not get salaries, which will make it tough for them to meet their monthly expenses.”
{{/usCountry}}PRTC worker unions convenor Nirmal Singh Dhaliwal said, “Though the scheme has increased PRTC’s daily income, the delay by the government in releasing the dues has affected the financial health of PRTC. As there are no funds, employees will not get salaries, which will make it tough for them to meet their monthly expenses.”
{{/usCountry}}He added that the Punjab government should have allocated ₹900 crore, instead of ₹450 crore, for PRTC and Punjab roadways. “We will hold a protest outside the head office of PRTC on December 9 against the delay,” said Nirmal Singh.