State govt mulling over corporatization of NST bus service

June 7, 2024 8 Views No Comment

Morung Express News
Dimapur | June 7

Last year during the beginning of the Manipur violence, several buses from the Nagaland State Transport (NST) service were deployed to bring back more than a thousand civilians to the State. While the feat was received with notable praise, a glaring observation made at the same time was the poor condition of the buses, several of which were reported to have broken down along the way.

NST is one of the first State departments established in the year 1964 with responsibilities over civil aviation, road transport, in-land waterways among others. Yet in spite of its 60 year existence, the department continues to incur net losses for the government.

Based on the underlying issues of the NST, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio during the assembly session earlier this year remarked on the high expenditures incurred particularly from the Transport sector affecting the State’s finances. Keeping this in mind, he said the 3rd State Finance Commission had recommended measures to increase revenue and efficiency in the Transport sector.

Sources within the department revealed that the idea of turning NST into a corporation has been under discussion for quite some time. A case study on the workings of other state transport corporations was conducted as well, the source mentioned.

However, several factors have prevented the government from taking the final call on this matter including negative public reaction and internal dissatisfaction from affected employees.

The source explained that a similar action was taken by the Manipur state government in the past when it introduced the Manipur State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC). After suffering significant losses, the MSRTC was abolished in 2003 leading to the total disappearance of its public transport system. It was only in 2017 that the Manipur government began to restore its transport services by reviving the Manipur State Transport (MST). Keeping this in mind, Nagaland wants to avoid a similar situation, the source said.

Without doubt, the NST continue to suffer innumerable losses. This is evident in its increasing number of over-aged buses as mentioned in the annual administrative report of the Transport department 2022-23. As per the report, the total fleet strength of the NST stood at 177, with which the entire operational activity of the Department is carried out. It also informed that the department has phased-out 64 buses by way of condemnation.

After phasing out of 64 buses, the fleet “comprises more over-aged buses which need to be replaced for safe and efficient operation of the services towards better service delivery to the public as well as to improve physical and revenue performance of the Department,” it highlighted. The source further added that there has been a lack of requisite funding needed for the purchase of new buses.

Advisor for Transport Department, Temjenmenba recently confirmed to The Morung Express the government’s move of corporatizing the NST. In his view, he recommended the creation of two separate bodies, wherein the NST would exist in its current mode of operation while a separate transport corporation would be created to augment the losses.