Industries minister Uday Samant said in an apparent jab at the previous Uddhav Thackeray administration that the government-run Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) and Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) would not have made a profit if those running the administration had been working from home.
Addressing a press conference here, he said the condition of state-run transport bodies has improved under the Shiv Sena-BJP-NCP (Ajit Pawar) government. The Eknath Shinde-Devendra Fadnavis-Ajit Pawar government has shown miracles can happen in a government corporation or a department if you work in the field instead of sitting at home, Samant said in comments targeted at former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray without naming him.
Rivals of Thackeray have frequently charged him with staying at home during the coronavirus pandemic when he was the CM.The minister asserted that the fact that six firms, including MSRTC, are profitable demonstrated the Shinde-led administration's administrative prowess.
Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation's profit is a proof of the Shinde government's administrative skills. For years, MSRTC was known to be a loss-making body, Samant said. He said in the past, MSRTC did not have enough money to even pay salaries of its employees, but the corporation has now seen a big turnaround.
Samant said during the Thackeray government (November 2019-June 2022), MSRTC's loss kept mounting and it faced a loss of Rs 6,300 crore between March 2020 and March 2021. When the Shinde government came to power it announced free travel for senior citizens aged 75 and above and gave a 50 per cent discount in tickets to women, said the Shiv Sena minister.