Mumbai: Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation‘s (MSRTC) red buses, known as ‘Lal Pari’, generated record revenue of over Rs 2 crore through special bus services during the recent municipal corporation elections across the state, a senior official announced on Wednesday.The official said the state election commission requested special buses from the state bus corporation to support election duties, including transporting materials to polling centres, moving officers and employees on time, and arranging transport to maintain law and order. “During elections, ensuring safe delivery of materials to polling centres, timely transportation of officers and employees, and establishing necessary transport arrangements to maintain law and order is a major responsibility.
For this important task, the state election commission requested special buses from the state bus corporation. Upholding its tradition of public service, the MSRTC immediately responded by deploying 772 buses from across the state for election work,” the official said.
He said disciplined planning by ST helped the election process proceed smoothly and also contributed significantly to the corporation’s treasury. Statistics shared with the media showed that, of the total fleet dedicated for elections, the maximum 125 buses were sent to Mumbai, generating the highest revenue of Rs 48 crore. Dhule received 142 state buses, which generated revenue of around Rs 34 lakh. Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar generated revenue of Rs 23 lakh, while Buldhana brought in Rs 22 lakh to the MSRTC kitty. Other districts that generated above Rs 10 lakh revenue during the recent polls included Jalna, Sindhudurg, Sangli, and Jalgaon, the statistics showed. BEST also provided 1,023 buses, for which it is yet to bill the state election commission, as it provided all kinds of buses—full-length and midi buses, the spokesperson said on Wednesday. The commission also requisitioned 1,160 private tourist buses and several taxis and school buses for election duty, for which it will pay charges per day, a member of the school bus owners association said, adding that it takes a few months for the actual payment to arrive.
