Eknath Shinde Urges MSRTC Bus Staff to Serve Passengers Like 'God's Service'

Thane: Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday appealed to the staff of state transporter MSRTC to treat serving passengers as “God’s service”.

He was speaking after inaugurating the renovated restroom for drivers and conductors at the Khopat bus stand of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) in Thane city.

“The ST (MSRTC) employees should work with the mindset that passenger service is God’s service,” said Shinde, who belongs to Thane. He asked the state-run transporter to construct clean, comfortable and AC restrooms at every depot across Maharashtra.

The MSRTC operates a fleet of around 14,000 buses, catering to some 55 lakh passengers daily, and has a workforce of about 90,000.

Shinde, who heads the Shiv Sena, also encouraged MSRTC to explore innovative solutions, especially through public-private partnerships, to develop modern bus terminals.

Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik shared plans to address the health and medical needs of ST employees. “To take care of the health of our ST employees and their families, we have a resolution to establish a 100-bed cashless hospital at every depot under future projects through public-private partnerships,” he said.

In a departure from the convention, the Maharashtra government recently appointed IAS officer Sanjay Sethi as chairman of MSRTC instead of a public representative, prompting Sarnaik to make it clear that it was a "temporary arrangement".

Sethi is the first IAS officer to be appointed to this post. In the last decade, the transport minister or some other public representative held this post. The previous chairman was Bharat Gogawale, who belongs to Shinde’s party. 

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