TSRTC moots shutdown of printing press at Miyapur

​Hyderabad: The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) management is all set to close down the decades old RTC printing press at Miyapur.

According to the officials, the press has now become redundant since the ticket issuing machines (TIMs) have replaced the paper tickets. The press has become a burden on the corporation since the same work can be done at a lesser cost.

But the RTC Unions allege that the corporation was handing over works one after other to outsourcing agencies in the name of financial burden.

According to Union leaders, the RTC printing press was started in 1964 at Musheerabad with two machines, which printed various forms, regulation books, manual books and bus tickets etc. The officials imported Rotary Printing Machine from England in 1980 to print more tickets in a short time.

Later, the printing press was shifted to Miyapur in 1989 and it had offset HMT machines and other equipment. The corporation had done recruitment from 1989 to 1993 to work in the press. During 1992, there were 230 workers in the printing press. However, the staff strength has come down drastically over the years and by 2014, only 70 workers remained in the press.

Union leaders said that the printing of tickets was stopped after TIMs were brought in the buses. The works like preparing TIMs roles and stationery is being taken up in the press.

The existing staff like binders were removed and shifted to city depots and were forced to work in the garages. The management was trying to show that there was no need for printing tickets and it would be expensive to make TIMs roles.

Staff Workers Federation general secretary V S Rao said that for a 6,000 metres TIMs role prepared by RTC workers would cost Rs 18,000. If the State government can exempt tax on this, the same role would cost anywhere between Rs 9,000 and Rs 12,000 and this would be lesser than the rate of private outsourcing agency.

The unit can also be used to print computer stationery and this would provide employment to nine persons, he added. The third alternative is to print the monthly magazine of the corporation ‘Prasthanam’ in RTC printing press only. Presently the magazine is being printed at a private place.

The pamphlets, which are brought out during the safety week and other programmes can also be printed in the RTC Printing Press, Rao said.