Jaipur, Apr 5 (PTI) Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has approved a proposal to hire 500 new buses on contract to strengthen transport services in urban areas, according to an official statement.

These buses will ply in cities like Jaipur, Jodhpur, Ajmer and Kota, it said. Of the total 500 buses, 300 will be operated by the Jaipur City Transport Service Limited.

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According to the statement, Gehlot has approved a financial provision of Rs 132.24 crore for the operation of the buses. This amount will be made available from the Rajasthan Transport Basic Development Fund.

The purchase, operation and maintenance of these buses will be done by the contractor concerned and a Viability Gap Funding (VGF) amount per kilometre will be given by the Rajasthan City Transport Corporation. The income from the operation of buses will also be collected by the corporation itself, as per the statement.

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The state government will form the Rajasthan City Transport Corporation by merging the existing city transport companies for other urban areas including Jaipur, Jodhpur, Ajmer and Kota.

Gehlot had made the announcement for the operation of new buses in the state's budget for 2023-24.

In another decision, the chief minister has approved a proposal to upgrade 155 government primary schools to upper primary schools.

According to the statement, these include 33 schools in Barmer, 27 in Jodhpur, 20 in Jaisalmer, 16 in Udaipur, 12 in Nagaur, 11 in Bikaner, 10 in Ajmer, eight in Chittorgarh, six in Dungarpur, four in Churu, three in Hanumangarh, two in Jaipur, and one each in Alwar, Jalore and Karauli.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)