Chennai, June 22:
The Tamil Nadu State Transport Employees Federation, affiliated to CITU, has contested key observations made in the state government’s white paper on finances, alleging that it presents a distorted view of public transport corporations without offering viable solutions.
In a letter to Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu, federation leaders A. Soundararasan and K. Arumuganainar said while the white paper rightly included liabilities of public sector entities in the government’s accounts, it wrongly portrayed expenditure on these services as a burden.
The federation criticised the comparison of diesel expenses between 2020-21 and 2025-26, noting that the earlier period coincided with the COVID-19 lockdown when most buses were off the roads. It also rejected claims of declining revenue, stating that figures failed to include reimbursements under the free bus travel scheme for women, which it said pushed effective earnings beyond Rs 11,000 crore.
Accusing officials of misclassifying welfare reimbursements as subsidies, the federation argued that transport corporations continue to serve over 10,000 routes, including unviable rural and hill areas, under government mandate. It said low regulated fares and inadequate compensation have widened the gap between operational costs and revenue.
The union claimed that although a 2022 government order recognised the need to bridge this gap, only Rs 2,646 crore has been released against an estimated requirement of nearly Rs 20,000 crore. This, it said, has forced corporations to rely on borrowings, with a significant portion of earnings going towards interest payments.
Highlighting the mounting debt burden of Rs 43,865 crore, the federation added that around Rs 10,000 crore constitutes statutory dues owed to employees, including provident fund and retirement benefits.