2 decades on, Mohan Yadav govt to play a role in MP’s bus services via PPP route

BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Mohan Yadav has decided to launch a scheme for affordable public transport across the state in the public-private partnership (PPP) mode, a move that comes after the state shut down the state road transport corporation in 2005 and sold its assets in 2022.

Yadav, who reviewed the plan to launch the proposed Mukhyamantri Sugam Transport Scheme at a meeting on Monday, said the scheme will strengthen the rural, urban and intercity transport system. “The government will make all necessary efforts to facilitate convenient travel in these regions,” the chief minister said.

The proposal is expected to be put before the state cabinet soon.

Transport secretary Manish Singh said the new transport system will have a three-tier monitoring mechanism for passenger bus operations in the state.

“A state-level holding company will be formed at the headquarters. Seven major divisions (Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, Gwalior, Ujjain, Sagar, and Rewa) will have regional assistant companies. These committees will be established in all districts to improve passenger transport, regulate fares, design route charts, and ensure maximum benefits for passengers,” Singh said.

Yadav’s push for a state role in the road transport sector is at variance with his two predecessors, also from the Bharatiya Janata Party. One, chief minister Babu Lal Gaur who signed off on a plan in 2005 to shut down the state-run bus services on account of the losses that the corporation had been making. And the second, Shivraj Singh Chouhan who set up a public asset monetisation department in 2020 and sold off the transport corporation’s assets for ₹350 crore in 2022.

“Since the government’s entire system has been finished in the past 20 years so the state government can only restart the services with the help of private partners only. Decisions on matters such as fare, route and permission of operation will be under control of the state government owned new company but the buses will be run by private partners only,” said a transport department official.

Transport minister Uday Pratap Singh said the government will keep the expenditure to be incurred by the exchequer to the minimum. “The objective of this service is to ensure best road transport services for passengers and to provide a conducive environment for bus operators.”

Congress spokesperson KK Mishra said the decision reflected the absence of a clear-cut vision in the BJP. “First, a chief minister of the BJP-led state government discontinued the services and left passengers in the lurch. For 20 years, they gave private bus operators a free hand to run their buses. Then, the second chief minister started selling the corporation’s properties and now a third chief minister is starting afresh,” said Mishra.