CSTC rakes in the cash

KOLKATA: Pushed to the point of no return, the laggard Calcutta State Transport Corporation (CSTC) has made a remarkable turnaround and posted a revenue growth not seen for years. It just goes to show how fixing accountability in the government sector - a tough job in itself - can pay rich dividend.
Faced with pay cuts and uncertain pension, CSTC employees had no choice but to pull up their socks.
The Mamata Banerjee government had, in no ambiguous terms, told the state transport corporations that the government would withdraw subsidy by stages. The effect of the first subsidy rattled CSTC. There were protests but the government stood its ground. CSTC employees now have a salary pending for a month and retired employees have stopped receiving pension.
Under these circumstances, the only way left for the new managing director was to try to salvage the situation as far as possible. But the subsidy-cut and delayed salaries had a demoralising effect on the staff. "The first thing I did was to motivate them. I asked them to give a 100% in their efforts. I categorically underlined the impending crisis," said CSTC MD Prasanna Kumar Mondal.
Earlier, the employees of a state bus were only bothered about completing the trip, without bothering about the revenue. They simply wanted to go from point to point. Kolkatans know that state buses will not pull up at designated halts even if there are a number of passengers. You have to chase it, open the door on the run and jump in with a prayer to god. Private buses are at the other end of the extreme. They stop anywhere and everywhere, even on the middle of the road, and compete in killer races to pick up just one passenger.
Now the scene has undergone a sea change. You would see CSTC conductors calling passenger to the bus.
At the same time, Mondal ensured that accountability is fixed. The inspectors were told to be more vigilant to prevent pilferage. Inspectors now check the bags of the conductors. If there is any unaccounted money, either with the driver or the conductor, stiff penalties are imposed. "I have made sure that the basic salary of such employees is modified (cut) to the basic he had when he began his career. There have been six-seven such cases and it worked," said Mandal.
In March, CSTC consistently earned Rs 19 lakh a day on an average just through the ticket sales. On April 3, for instance, CSTC earned Rs 14,69,109 from city routes, Rs 3,52,586 from long distance services, and Rs 5,000 from bus reservations. Monday's earning of Rs 18,26,695 was poorer compared to other days, largely because movement of buses was disrupted by repeated blockades in different parts of the city, say officials.
CTSC was plagued by decline in revenue for the past few years. The daily sale report would never exceed Rs 12 to 13 lakh. CSTC is now eyeing a further growth of revenue by reducing its long-distance services and increasing its operations in the profitable city routes.
"CSTC does not earn profit on long routes. The fuel bill is quite huge. Moreover, there is overlapping of routes and services with South Bengal State Transport Corporation (SBSTC) and North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC). But we have highly profitable short routes like Howrah-Sealdah. We need more buses and personnel there," said CSTC deputy director Samir Biswas.
The earning per bus is the correct index of revenue growth. Even a month ago, it was somewhere around Rs 3,400 per day, but in March it rose to Rs 4,600 on an average.
"We are also trying out ways to reduce our fuel bill, which is Rs 11 lakh per day. A CSTC bus gives a mileage of 3.5 to 3.6 on average. The 125 buses we have got under JNNURM scheme are major fuel guzzlers. Their mileage is as low as 2 kilometres per litre. We want to take it to closer to 4," said a senior official.