Mumbai, Oct. 29 -- Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann flagged off 100 new Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) minibuses in Patiala, reaffirming the state government's plan to connect villages with cities. The rollout is intended to improve access to education, employment, healthcare and other essential services for rural residents.
The 29-seater minibuses will operate on rural and small-town routes through nine PRTC depots. They have been allocated to depots in Patiala, Bathinda, Chandigarh, Sangrur, Barnala, Budhlada, Kapurthala, Faridkot and Ludhiana, according to the Press Trust of India.
Mann said the new services would make daily travel easier for people commuting to cities for work, business and education. He also criticised previous governments for discontinuing village-to-city bus services and said his administration was focused on ensuring that residents' opportunities were not limited by where they lived.
The chief minister announced that another 309 full-size buses would be added to the state transport fleet next month. He also pointed to around 3,000 privately operated minibuses that currently connect villages, towns and cities across Punjab, saying the government was continuing to strengthen the public transport network.
The induction of the new minibuses is expected to create jobs for about 150 drivers and conductors. Offer letters for transport department positions were also handed to 15 young people at the event, which was attended by Transport Minister Harpal Singh Cheema and Health Minister Balbir Singh. Mann said the expansion combined public welfare with employment generation and would support more balanced development across the state.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Construction World.