Ahmedabad: The Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service (AMTS) plans to take back its 350 employees who had been retrenched in the past. AMTS also wants to withdraw the cases pending against these employees in different courts. The decision comes in the wake of the transport service provider's plan to strengthen its fleet and improve the services.

The AMTS plans to add some 131 buses by March 2012 to its present fleet of 700 buses. Moreover, it has drafted DPR of 1,000 buses under JNNURM, of which 300 buses will be added to the AMTS's fleet taking it to 1,131.

For this, the transport arm of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) will obviously need more hands to make AMTS as a dependable mode of public transport. So instead of recruiting new people, AMTS plans to call back the employees who are fighting legal battle against it.

AMTS chairman Amit Shah said, "We have already intimated 117 employees who earlier worked in the works department of AMTS. We will also call 125 of 250 drivers retrenched some 10 years back." He said AMTS would withdraw the cases from the court.

Shah added that the reinstated employees will be taken on contract and be paid wages on line of what daily wagers get. "Our purpose is to increase utilities of the buses so that best services are provided to people," said Shah.

AMTS officials said it will be better to take back the retrenched employees as they have experience and know the system thoroughly. During its bad days, AMTS had sacked drivers and helpers as it had neither work nor money to give them. Some employees who got pink slips because of irregularity in attendance had dragged AMTS to the court.