Hyderabad: Transport and BC Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar led a statewide video conference on Tuesday to mark two years of the Maha Lakshmi scheme, directing RTC officials to expand routes and strengthen public transport.
He congratulated drivers, conductors, shramiks and staff for maintaining free travel for women under the scheme. The RTC leadership also felicitated him as he completed two years as Transport Minister. Moreover, he urged teams to increase field-level coordination to meet rising demand.
He instructed officials to explore new routes from Hyderabad to rural areas. Surveys enabled the launch of services on 373 new city routes from Tuesday. As a result, nearly 7 lakh residents outside the Outer Ring Road gained public transport access.
Furthermore, the minister said the state must raise public transport usage from 28 percent to 70 percent by 2047. He noted that such growth required tripling fleet strength and called for stronger teamwork. Additionally, he advised staff to treat passengers courteously, while officers should handle employees with sensitivity.
Expansion targets under Maha Lakshmi scheme
Prabhakar said the Maha Lakshmi scheme revived RTC after a decade of decline. He explained that 90 depots had already moved to profits under the current government. He asked officials to help the remaining depots achieve similar progress.
Recruitment advanced for 3038 posts, including drivers and supervisors. The government added 2476 buses in two years, forming 40 percent of the present fleet. Consequently, service quality improved across districts. He also confirmed that 1190 people gained jobs under compassionate and medical unfit categories.
New depots opened in Peddapalli and Eturunagaram. Many bus stations also saw upgrades. Meanwhile, 810 EV buses started running in Hyderabad, Nalgonda, Karimnagar, Nizamabad and Warangal. Another 175 will arrive in January. Within two years, 2800 EV buses will operate in Hyderabad to cut pollution.
Women’s groups under SERP received 152 buses, and Mahila Samaikhya groups will add 448 more soon. In addition, he directed officials to act against private vehicles pulling passengers from bus stations.
He said the sector would play a major role in the Chief Minister’s 2047 goal of building a USD 3 trillion economy. Finally, he announced efforts to establish a modern RTC school for employees’ children.
RTC MD Nagireddy, EDs Munishekhar, Venkanna and Rajashekhar, along with senior officers, joined the review meeting.
