More e-buses for HRTC to achieve 'Green Energy' initiative : Chief Minister

SHIMLA - 6^th August, 2024-Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, while presiding over a meeting of Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) here today, said that the State Government would provide all possible assistance to the Corporation to revive it from the financial loss and make it a profitable organization.

The HRTC which is a lifeline of hill transport system plays a very pivotal role in providing reliable services to the people with more than 12,000 employees, whom the Chief Minister termed as the backbone of the corporation.

The Chief Minister said that the HRTC would be transformed into a 'Green Transportation System' as more electric buses were being introduced in the already existing fleet of 110 e-buses and 50 e-taxis. He said that Rs. 327 crore had been provided to purchase electric buses and the process was underway to procure 2,000 additional type-II e-buses. The entire fleet of diesel buses will be replaced by e-buses in a phased manner, said he.

At present in the first phase HRTC is plying six buses to Ayodhya to facilitate the devotees with plans to add more if necessary. Besides, it was also providing its services to other religious places, said the Chief Minister.

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said that the HRTC was providing reliable transport services in the challenging terrains of Himachal Pradesh. The employees and pensioners of the organization now have been receiving their salary and pension on the day one of every month for the last seven months, whereas during the previous BJP government, the employees and pensioners had to wait for eight to 10 days to get their salaries released.

Advisor Infrastructure Anil Kapil, Principal Secretary Transport R.D. Nazeem, Principal Secretary Finance Devesh Kumar, Secretary to the Chief Minister Rakesh Kanwar, Managing Director HRTC Rohan Chand Thakur and other senior officers also attended the meeting.

================================

SHIMLA-6^th August, 2024

While presiding over the meeting of the Digital Technologies and Governance Department here today, Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announced the development of a unified online platform, 'Him-access', designed to provide citizen-centric services by consolidating all government social security schemes onto a single platform.

This platform will enable citizens and officials to access multiple departmental applications with a single click, ensuring data accuracy and consistency across state applications. The platform is scheduled to launch in October and will offer 261 services currently available on the e-district portal. The Chief Minister also directed the development of websites for Milkfed and Natural Farming, emphasizing the importance of modern technology in departmental functioning to facilitate efficient, transparent, and citizen-centric services.

The State Government is incorporating modern technology in the functioning of all the departments to facilitate the people of the State. He said that with the advancement of technology, the State Government intends to provide speedy services to the people of the State at their doorsteps as digital tools streamline the process and speed up the operations. Additionally, technology also reduces human error and better data management, besides fostering transparency and accountability. He said that the integration of advanced technology in departmental functioning can lead to a more effective, efficient, transparent and citizen-centric system. He said that the Mukhya Mantri Sewa Sankalp Helpline would be strengthened and a chatbot would also be introduced soon.

Principal Advisor to the Chief Minister (IT and Innovation) Gokul Butail, Secretary Priyatu Mandal, Secretary to Chief Minister Rakesh Kanwar, Director Digital Technologies and Governance Nipun Jindal and other senior officers of the department attended the meeting.