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Goa set to take over bus service

Sandesh Prabhudesai in Panaji

While the country and the various states are going in for privatisation, Goa is swimming against the tide.

The state government has decided to take over, in phases, the age-old public transport system which is run by various private companies.

As the first step, the state-owned Kadamba Transport Corporation will take over the major trunk routes between the three prime towns in the tourist state.

Around 100 private buses run between the capital city of Panaji, the commercial city of Margao, and the port town of Vasco, along with the Kadamba buses which will now become redundant.

While offering to compensate the private bus companies's owners for cancelling their permits, the state has also put forward a proposal to run the private buses on a lease on the same route.

Explaining the rationale to take over the buses, Goa Transport Director K N S Nair said. "You should not run public utility service for profits. This causes the quality of service to suffer."

Ironically, it took the state officials 35 years to understand the difficulties of commuters, who were at the mercy of the private bus operators. The bus services, which are the sole mode of public transport within Goa, are extremely overcrowded, while tickets are not issued and buses were underutilised.

If the takeover of the trunk routes succeeds, Chief Minister Pratapsing Rane has plans to take over the entire public transport in phases.

The Private Bus Owners Association has strongly condemned the move and threatened to agitate by paralysing the bus transport in the state.

However, it is doubtful that the threat will work as the bus lobby in Goa appears to have lost its clout among local politicians.