St Volvo bus stop cancelled at Khodal Kathiawadi Dhaba on Rajkot-Ahmedabad highway, see list of 17 stoppage hotels

Divya Bhaskar made a reality check by travelling on st corporation's Rajkot-Ahmedabad Volvo. In which there is Khodal Kathiawadi Dhaba Hotel located near Patiya of Pansina village beyond Limbdi, where the stop of buses was fixed by the ST department. But there the passengers were found to be getting a dilemma rather than convenience. The ST Corporation has cancelled the stop of this hotel following this report by Divya Bhaskar. Under the Rajkot ST department, volvo and express buses of ST are now stopped at 17 hotels. In the last two years, 7 hotels have been removed from the stop list for not complying with the rules of the ST department. The hotel will get Rs. A fine of Rs 5,000 was also imposed St's Volvo and Express buses are given stops at the hotel on routes from Rajkot to Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar and Junagadh as well as dhrangadhra to Bhuj. Divisional Director of Rajkot ST J.B. Kalotra said the Volvo going from Rajkot to Ahmedabad was given a stop at Khodal Kathiawadi Dhaba Hotel near Limbdi. However, the hotel manager was earlier fined on the basis of a complaint from the passengers. But even after that, the stop of this hotel has been canceled as there is no improvement in the food quality or cleanliness by them. Earlier, this hotel was given Rs. A fine of Rs 5,000 was also imposed. Divya Bhaskar did a reality check on September 22 Divya Bhaskar's team travelled in a Volvo bus from Rajkot to Ahmedabad on September 22. Meanwhile, the bus left Rajkot bus port at 2 pm and at 4.10 pm the GSRTC Volvo bus was parked at Khodal Kathiawadi Dhaba Hotel near Pansina village ahead of Limbdi village. At first, the problem was to take the bus inside the hotel from the highway. The bus could not easily enter as the flooring was in a broken and uprooted condition. After this, as soon as we got down, if we looked ahead, cleanliness was not seen anywhere and then when you looked at the toilet ahead, there was a lot of dirt and a foul smell spread, which did not come inside but to the outside of the toilet. Everything in the dining hall was seen in a busy state After this, when the AC reached the dining hall, no one was present there. Everything in the dining hall was seen in a busy state. After that, when we went to the breakfast department, there was no cleanliness. Garbage was flying, dust plumes were flying and dustbins were found in a broken state and its lids lying in different places flying in the field. There was nothing hygienic in the place where breakfast was available. There was an open breakfast which was heated and given to the passengers. If a passenger has not come for breakfast, it should be kept covered at that time. But it was not covered but open. No facilities but passengers got a dilemma Nilesh Rajgor, a passenger travelling in GSRTC at this time, had a conversation with Divya Bhaskar at that time and said that if I travel to any place frequently, I travel in GSRTC itself. The stop that has been given at Khodal Kathiawadi Dhaba Hotel in front of Limbdi during the journey today. This is a very inappropriate stop. There is no facility here but the passengers are getting a dilemma. There is no good flooring, no good breakfast, no cleanliness and the condition of the toilet is quite bad. This stop really needs to be changed. Buses should not be parked at such places. Many such passengers, not me, are suffering. But no one can speak. I have to complain but I don't know who to do. If there is a facility like a complaint book, we can turn on the complaint. It is mandatory for hotels to provide adequate facilities to passengers. St buses of Gujarat state run on long routes. In which stops are given at some fixed place in the middle of the highway and this stop is given at the place where the tender has been approved by the ST department, without the will of the driver or conductor. However, it is necessary to comply with the rules laid down by the ST Corporation at this place and it is mandatory to provide adequate facilities to the passengers. But on some routes, it has come to light many times that rules are not followed on hotels. At which hotel can st buses be given a stop? The Gujarat State ST Corporation is earning rs 3-4 lakh per day and Rs 14-15 crore annually through one such model. The ST corporation has also made a policy on which hotels on the highway to park their buses. In this process, tenders are issued by the corporation. Hotel operators will fill the tender and the formula has been decided to keep ST buses in the hotel, which pays the highest price. There are more than 1700 stalls and canteens at st bus depots. But with the aim of saving long-route buses to and from bus stands in the middle cities, the corporation has started the concept of running many bus bypasses. One of the objectives is to ensure that passengers on such routes get time for refreshments on the way and get food items. This policy was first released in 2010. This policy was first released in 2010. The idea was mooted by the then managing director of the corporation, G.R. Aloria had come. He implemented this policy by giving a final shape. How many hotels are needed on which route is surveyed, including how many kilometers away from the depot? Keeping this in mind, the hotel is selected on the basis of the right price tender. After this survey, any hotel that is to be involved in the tendering process is sold in two parts. Hotels are given an 11-month license Hotels which are of premium type, including AC family room, RCC flooring, RO plant, blocked toilets. The fact that he has a certificate issued by the Divisional Director from the department is counted in the A category. While the standard of hotels falling in the B category has been revised some time ago. Earlier, the flooring used to run even if it was raw. Instead, pucca flooring has now been made mandatory. These hotels are given an 11-month license. More than 2,000 buses are stopped at hotels in such categories. The hotel manager has to give a guarantee on a stamp paper of Rs.300, the hotel manager has to pay 150 to 300 per bus Hotel operators on different routes in Gujarat charge an amount ranging from Rs 150 to Rs 300 per bus after getting tenders. Thus, on an annual basis, around Rs 15 crore is earned. In order to ensure strict implementation of st's new policy, the list of selected hotels on whichever route is given to the driver-conductor of the ST bus. The bus has to be parked there. Senior officials can also know where the bus reached through GPS. When a bus is parked at the designated hotel, the conductor of the bus has to take the cash fixed by the hotel manager with the ST Corporation from that hotel and give it a ticket. The ST department conducts surprise checks at the stoppage hotel The corporation has different checking authorities to see if the hotel complies with the rules or not. Surprise checking has to be done by the divisional director, the chief traffic officer of the department, the depot manager as well as the team of the central office. During this checking, if the hotel operators are found to be violating the rules. For example, if you take a higher price than the fixed price, keep open food, have dirt, do not clean, do not give the money fixed by the corporation to the conductor, then the hotel-manager is given a first notice and a penalty of Rs 5,000 is imposed. If such a mistake occurs again, a penalty of Rs 10,000 is charged at the time of the second notice. If there is no correction even after that, then the contract with that hotel itself is canceled. St bus currently stops at 60 hotels In 2023, out of the total 80 hotels licensed by the corporation on gujarat highways, licenses of 17 hotels were cancelled. Out of these, licenses of 15 hotels were canceled simultaneously before Diwali. St bus currently stops at 60 hotels. If there is no complaint against the hotel during periodic checking in the corporation's licensed hotels or throughout the year, then in the second year, the license of the hotel is renewed with a 10 percent price increase. At present, the process of tendering for the stop of ST buses on hotels on the highway is going on by the Gujarat State ST Corporation. The online tender has been started from October 11, which can be filled till November 6. 7 hotels cancelled in 2 years In the last two years, hotels falling under the jurisdiction of Rajkot ST department were checked by a team including divisional traffic officer, during which various types of irregularities were detected. A penalty of Rs 1,70,000 was imposed. Also, a total of 07 hotels have been cancelled under various irregularities.