KSRTC's low-floor buses to be turned into classrooms in Kerala
Thiruvananthapuram, May 17: Is the Kerala government planning to convert its derelict low floor buses into classrooms is a question that arises after state Transport Minister Antony Raju on Tuesday agreed to provide two low floor buses for that purpose to a government school in Manacaud here.
In an event held at the school, Raju said that two low floor KSRTC buses, which were meant to be scrapped, would be provided to the school for being converted into 2 to 4 classrooms.
"The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is your own and is meant for you," he added.
The state Transport Minister also joked that now no one should say that they only want low floor buses and not buildings to hold classes.
According to a statement filed by the KSRTC in the Kerala High Court recently, it has around 239 low floor rear-engine buses lying unused in its depots across the state.
All the 239 buses are more than nine years old and have run more than 5 lakh kilometers and therefore, the corporation has decided to scrap them, KSRTC told the court in response to a PIL which alleged that around 2,800 buses of the state transport authority were lying unused in various depots.
Refuting the allegation, KSRTC told the court that 1,736 buses were lying unused due to COVID-19 and of them 920 were earmarked for scrapping and the rest were to be utilised for service operations.
Presently, only around 455 buses were lying unused, it had told the court.
It remains to be seen whether the Transport department intends to recycle or convert all of them into classrooms or scrap them as it originally planned.
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Kumaraswamy accuses Cong govt of 'neglecting' farmers in Karnataka
Mysuru (PTI): Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Tuesday accused the Congress government in Karnataka of "neglecting" the farmers in the state and being involved in corruption.
The JD(S) leader took part in an event where President Droupadi Murmu inaugurated the 1066th Jayanthi celebrations of Adi Jagadguru Sri Shivarathreeshwara Shivayogi Mahaswamiji at Malavalli in Mandya district, which comes under his Lok Sabha constituency.
"I saw a report that 2,800 farmers have died by suicide after this government came to power (in state). The government seems to be not concerned about the farmers. This government on coming to power said that it will give Rs 24,000 crore as loan to 32 lakh farmers for their farming activities, but till November, about Rs 12,000 crore has been paid to 24 lakh farmers, limiting to what was there earlier by managing the books of account," Kumaraswamy said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "These things show the failures of this government. Also, there is a corrupt system. I will not speak about it now. After December 20, I will speak to you in detail. There are a lot of issues to share with you."
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Responding to a question, the JD(S) leader, who turned 66 today, said there is no use of giving any documents. "I'm waiting for the right time."
Regarding the Congress government introducing a bill against "hate speech" in the Assembly, Kumaswamy said it is aimed at silencing the opposition in the state, but they won't be successful.
"What do Congress leaders have to say about their workers' comments against Prime Minister Narendra Modi?. He cited slogans -- 'Modi teri kabr khudegi, aaj nahi to kal khudegi' (Modi's grave will be dug.. if not today, then tomorrow) -- allegedly raised against Modi at a Congress rally in Delhi on Sunday.
