Bengaluru, Dec 24 (PTI) Karnataka Transport and Muzrai Minister Ramalingareddy on Tuesday inaugurated 20 Ambaari Utsav sleeper buses of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC).

He also distributed temporary deputation orders for Driver-cum-Conductors to 82 candidates with highest scores in the driving test conducted at the Humnabad Training Centre.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, MLA Gubbi, chairman of KSRTC S R Srinivas and vice-chairman Mohammed Rizwan Nawab were also present.

Ambaari Utsav sleeper buses will operate between Bengaluru and Kundapura, Mangaluru, Nellore, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Kozhikode, Thrissur and Ernakulam.

According to KSRTC, 35.43 lakh passengers daily make use of its service through 8,896 vehicles.

It also stated that the Karnataka government has approved addition of 5,800 new buses to the state transport corporations, of which 4,301 buses have been added across four corporations – KSRTC, Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation, North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation and Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation — in the past one year.

The government has also granted permission for the recruitment of 9,000 posts across four corporations and 2,144 drivers, conductors, and technical staff have been recruited till now. The recruitment process for 6,856 positions will be completed soon.