Ending almost fifty years of government control, Sajha Yatayat (SY) will now be operated under a fully cooperative model with board of directors elected directly from the ordinary members.
Once most popular transport service, SY has been dysfunctional for the last four years due to long running mismanagement and political interferences under the government control.
The 7th annual general meeting (AGM) held on Friday made amendment in the by-laws of SY paving the way for public promoters´ majority in place of the government. “The AGM had mandated us to resume the service with new buses under a new management after the election of new board of directors within six months,” the general manager of SY, Mahendra Pandey, told Republica Saturday.
SY, registered under the Cooperative Act, is controlled by the government majority. With the amendment in the bylaws, five out of the seven board members, including chairman, will be elected directly from the ordinary members.
Remaining board members will be picked up from registrar of Department of Cooperatives (DoC) and Department of Transport Management (DoTM). Currently, SY has total 233 members.
As per the existing provision, a Secretary at the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management (MoLTM) is appointed the chairman of SY whereas a registrar of DoC, the director general of DoTM, and representatives from the Ministry of Finance (MoF) are selected as the members of the board.
The government-appointed chief executive is member-secretary of the board.
“The newly elected board members will appoint the new management that will initiate the process of procuring news buses,” said Pandey. The new buses to be used for public transport service currently dominated by private operators is expected to discourage the trend of setting fares arbitrarily.
According to Pandey, SY needs to procure at least 20 new buses in the first phase, and gradually expand the fleet, to lessen the private sector monopoly in the public transport sector.
Total 182 Sajha buses used to ply on different routes during the hay days of SY, which is still remembered by commuters as a fast and reliable public transport. SY currently has only eight buses that can be run after some maintenance works.
Despite erratic service along the Kathmandu-Lhasa route, SY has effectively ceased to operate as a public transporter for the last four years inside the valley. Pandey also said a ´Bus Service Guideline´ will be formulated to ensure smooth running of bus services in the coming days.
Courtsey:Republica