Panaji: Goa govt has privatised operations on nine of the state’s 18 ferry routes. The services have been outsourced to the Goa recruitment and employment society, a govt-run non-profit, while the river navigation department (RND) will continue to handle fuel and maintenance.RND director, Vikram Rajebhosale, said, “The RND was working on a two-shift system for nearly six decades, and the staff got paid for overtime. However, under the new system, the workers will now perform their duties in a three-shift system with no overtime. The shift is expected to save the state over Rs 10 crore annually in salaries and an additional Rs 3-4 crore in overtime costs.”With govt granting approval, the transition has been carried out in three phases since Oct 1, without a tender process, due to the society’s govt affiliation.“It costs Rs 8-9 lakh per month to operate a ferryboat on the staff salaries alone. Now, we are paying them Rs 3.3 lakh per ferryboat, per month. We are straightaway saving Rs 6 lakh per month on each vessel. With 11 ferries enrolled in this system, we are saving Rs 66 lakh per month besides the Rs 3-4 crore in overtime payments,” Rajebhosale said.The RND, however, is also expecting retaliation from workers who are bound to lose their overtime payment due to this change.“We are already running at a loss. The RND revenue is just Rs 1 crore per annum and faces a loss of approximately Rs 79 crore per year. This new system will help us save Rs 14 crore per year, which goes to show that there is a lot of scope in this pushing this decision. We have made a lot of effort to manage the workers’ union as well as the RND before taking this decision,” Rajebhosale said.
