Private bus operators in the State will go on an indefinite strike from Wednesday midnight demanding revision in bus fares against the backdrop of the rising fuel prices.
The operators are demanding that the minimum fare be hiked to ₹12 from ₹8, student concession to ₹6 from ₹2 and per km rate to ₹1.10. The fares were last revised when the diesel price was ₹62 a litre.
“Now the diesel price has reached an all-time high of ₹95 a litre and there is no point in operating services incurring huge losses,” says Lawrence Babu, general secretary, Kerala State Private Bus Operators’ Federation.
Bus owners have no plans to go ahead with strike inconveniencing commuters. But the owners are now forced to go ahead with the strike, T. Gopinath, representative of the Bus Coordination Committee, told mediapersons. They had earlier given a strike call on November 9 raising these demands. But, the strike was deferred following talks with Transport Minister Antony Raju.
Though the Minister had promised to revise the fares, the government had been sitting on the proposal despite the Justice M. Ramachandran Commission, a single-member commission tasked to look into fare revision, recommending the same. The government had given ₹1,000-crore Budget support to the ailing Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), but it continues to turn a blind eye to the demands of the private bus operators, they say.
Meanwhile, Mr. Raju said the bus owners should not go ahead with the strike. The KSRTC would conduct more services if bus, auto and taxi operators went ahead with their strike plan, he said.
The government had approved their demand to revise fares. But they should not exert pressure on the government at a time when a discussion was under way as to when and how it should be done, Mr. Raju said.
More KSRTC services
The KSRTC will operated more services in view of the strike. All the buses currently available in the units must be pressed into services, KSRTC CMD said. Services will be provided to hospitals, airports and railway stations based on passenger requirement.
The CMD also gave a directive to restrict the leaves of employees in the operation wing to provide additional services to ease the traffic.
Similarly, all general wing inspectors and surprise squad unit inspectors were directed to inspect the buses efficiently, apart from directing unit authorities to adjust the schedules, taking note of the convenience of the passengers.
The CMD said police assistance should be sought in case of any law and order situation.
