- Mathew T. Thomas
-
Mathew T Thomas 
Former Minister for Transport, MLA In office
2006–2009Succeeded by Jose Thettayil Constituency Tiruvalla, Pathanamthitta Personal details Born 27 September 1961
Tiruvalla, Pathanamthitta district, Kerala, IndiaNationality Indian Political party Janata Dal (Secular) Mathew T Thomas (born 27 September 1961) is an Indian politician who has been the Minister of Transport, Kerala state from May 2006 to August 2009 in the LDF ministry lead by V.S. Achuthanandan. He was elected twice as MLA to the Kerala Assembly, in 1987[1] and 2006.[2] He was born in Tiruvalla as the son of Rev. T. Thomas and entered politics while a student. He is an advocate by profession and completed his post graduation.[3]
As the Minister of Transport, Mr. Thomas bought back KSRTC out of great financial crisis with a series of reforms . He did a study involving management consultants from KTDFC and identified areas where KSRTC can generate revenue and reduce cost. The major steps taken were transforming the bus depots into revenue generating shopping malls [1]. As KSRTC owned the key location in every town this could generate income for KSRTC in the form of rent [2]. The corporation is planning to construct as many as 30 modern commercial complex-cum-bus terminals in different parts of the state which are expected to create a monthly revenue of Rs. 100 crores. His hometown Tiruvalla is one of the first towns to get such a shopping mall. The commercial complex in Thiruvalla is a 10-storey structure with state-of-the-art facilities. The corporation was planning to implement the project on a build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis [3] .
Another progressive step was to improve the fuel efficiency and reduce accidents. This was achieved through incentivising the drivers with better economy and less accident rates. The corporation had submitted a proposal to the State Government for switching over to CNG as fuel. The proposal, worth Rs 280 crore, envisages using CNG in 1,500 buses in the first phase along with another proposal for acquiring electronic buses and both the proposals would be presented before the 13th Finance Commission. The Corporation could register an annual profit of Rs 43 crore on converting to CNG and Rs 288 crore on using LNG [4]. The KSRTC has been selected for the Kerala State Energy Conservation Awards 2009 [5].
He revived the KSRTC bus body building units and ditched the decision to buy chassis from private companies which saved the corporation a huge amount. This scheme also helped to move more contracted employees on to a permanent basis. He managed to review the pay scale after ten years and improve the working condition for the employees and made the KSRTC more employee friendly. He hence managed to avoid strikes which incurred heavy loss to the corporation every year [6].
Mr. Thomas was instrumental in getting more funding for the KSRTC. Under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission project 80 low floor air-conditioned Volvo buses were launced in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi Kerala State Road Transport Corporation. Thiruvanathapuram also received another 50 air buses under the Ananthapuri Fast Buses Scheme [7]. During his tenure, the monthly earnings of the corporation have jumped Rs.68 crore to Rs.100 crore. The distance covered by the KSRTC buses have increased from over 11 lakh to 13 lakh kilometers. KSRTC also created 9,135 vacancies during his term [8].
The best part of his reforms was he achieved all this with the credit of the only transport Minister to reduce the fares of KSRTC [9]. He resigned as a result of a split in his party and sacrificed his ministership to his fellow party MLA Mr. Jose Thettayil.
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References
Categories:- 1961 births
- Living people
- Kerala politicians
- People from Pathanamthitta
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