Bus fare hike in TN draws flak from political parties

Chennai: The bus fare hike in Tamil Nadu drew all round flak from political parties, including the main opposition DMK, which accused the government of being ‘sadistic’ and giving a ‘thunderbolt’ to the people. The parties demanded that the fares be immediately rolled back.

The Tamil Nadu government last night hiked the fares of buses under State run transport corporations and private entities approximately by 20 to 54.54 per cent, after a six year gap, saying it was inevitable.

DMK working President M K Stalin today accused the Palaniswami-led government of being “sadist” and said the steep hike to the tune of Rs 3,600 crore a year was unacceptable and was a ‘thunderbolt’ imposed on the people.

“I strongly condemn the AIADMK government for imposing this heavy burden on the people, whose buying power has already been diminished,” he said

Stalin, Leader of Opposition in the State assembly, blamed the government for the losses suffered by State-run transport corporations and alleged that the hike had been effected to hide it’s ‘administrative ineffiency’.

This also raised a question on whether the move was to help private operators, he said.

The government had said yesterday that State run transport corporations had incurred a recurring loss of Rs 20,488 crore.

Also, during the past seven years, the State had provided a subsidy of Rs 12,059.17 crore to transport corporations to help them tackle the fund crunch, it said.

Stalin also charged the government with not taking any “steps” to increase revenue from non-fare modes like operating courier service, motels and advertisements on buses.

He also flayed the government for effecting a nearly 100 per cent hike in salaries for MLAs and now going in for an increase in bus fare, a view echoed by PMK chief Ramadoss.

The PMK said a state-wide protest demonstration would be held on January 25, seeking immediate roll back of hike.

He said Omni bus operators already charge higher fares and that they planned to further increase it. The hike was to facilitate profiteering by private operators, he alleged.

Sidelined AIADMK leader and RK Nagar MLA TTV Dhinakaran also demanded that the hike be withdrawn.

“People will not accept the bus fare hike. The government should withdraw the hike,” he told reporters.

Dhinakaran loyalist and former state transport minister Senthil Balaji said the hike was not justifiable now, given that there was a decline in industrial growth and no employment generation.