The stalemate between the Transport department and a section of contract-carriage bus operators having national permit is set to continue with Transport Minister Antony Raju warning of firm action against such buses, while a prominent operator affirmed that there is no going back on operating the buses.
The two were addressing mediapersons hardly 100 m apart, at Ernakulam Guest House and at Ernakulam Press Club respectively, on Tuesday afternoon.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Antony chaired a high-level meeting convened at the venue to discuss “illegal operations” by contract-carriage buses by “misinterpreting” the Centre’s new national permit norms, which was attended by, among others, Biju Prabhakar, Transport Secretary and chairman and managing director of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC); S. Srijith, Transport Commissioner; and officials of the Motor Vehicles department (MVD) and the KSRTC.
