Saffron Antodaya buses in UP from Sep 25

Lucknow, Sept 18: Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) buses, which have been coloured saffron, will now ply from the state capital to different `teerthsthals' (religious places) from September 25, the 100th birth anniversary of RSS and BJP ideologue Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay. The buses will have normal fare and will operate at block level. The state transport department here today said the UP Motor Vehicle Rules clearly states that UPSRTC vehicles “shall be painted in combination of blue and cream colour,“ but the colour scheme for the buses is changed almost every alternate year or with the change in the politics in the state. Colour of the buses has drawn much attention but minister of state (independent charge) for transport Swatantra Dev Singh said it is only to beautify the vehicles. “If you look at the buses, they do not appear just saffron. The colour and design makes the fleet look beautiful,“ he said. So far, the fleet had some blue and white, representing Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), red and green for Samajwadi Party (SP). Now, BJP has added its favourite saffron on the state buses. According to UPSRTC, the distinct colour for the special service would help identify the bus easily.“Antyodaya has Euro-IV norms and would connect religious places,“ said UPSRTC officials here today. The new buses are being prepared at the central workshop of UPSRTC in Kanpur. The cost of each bus has come to approximately Rs 24 lakhs. These fleet will comply with the Euro 4 emission norms and initially have a fleet of 50 buses for the Antyoday service. Acting on the plan of the state government to increase rural connectivity and connect at least 10,000 `majras' and villages with the corporation's buses, 5,000 new buses would be added to the UPSRTC fleet in the current financial year and the new buses might follow the same co lour scheme. It's common for specialised bus services like Antyodaya launched by BJP, or the Lohia Grameen bus service launched by former SP government to have a dif ferent colour, since these services are meant for a specific purpose and class of travellers. When in power, BSP launched the Sarvjan Hitay Sarvjan Sukhay bus service with dark blue and white as its theme colour. Then comes the Lohia Gramin Bus Seva launched by the Samajwadi Party had red and green stripes from the party flag. The service was launched with a promise of 20 per cent lesser fare. UNI