Stating that the bus fare hike was inevitable, State Transport Minister MR Vijayabhaskar on Saturday said that with the Transport Corporation staring at fund crunch to the tune of Rs 900 crore a year, withdrawal of the decision was not possible.
State Transport Minister MR Vijayabhaskar
Chennai:
Speaking to the media, the Minister also said that the Corporation has a deficit of Rs 4,657 crore owing to various factors, including disbursal of retirement benefits to the tune of Rs 2,500 crore to 60,000 retired employees till November, increase in salaries of employees to almost 120 per cent and diesel prices shooting up.
Vijayabhaskar said that the new ticket prices are far less compared to Tamil Nadu’s neighbouring states. “In Andhra Pradesh, the rate is 63.7 paise per km, while in Kerala it is 64 paise/km and in Karnataka it is 59 paise/km, but in Tamil Nadu it is 60 paise/ km,” he said, adding, TN is the only state operating 2,000 buses, out of which 12,000 are in rural and other places. “Though we hardly generate much profit in the rural areas, we have continued with bus services there,” he said and added that the state had hiked fares only twice since 2000.
He also refuted claims of privatisation of transport and warned private operators with strict action if they were found to collect extra fare. The Transport Department plans to introduce 4,000 new buses with facilities like sleeper coach and toilets. As part of modernisation of the department, the government will also introduce electric and double decker buses for which a trial run has already been done, the minister said.
Raju rocks with ‘even beggars don’t take Re 1’ talk
State Minister for Cooperation Sellur K Raju landed into another controversy on Saturday after he said, “Nowadays even beggars do not accept one rupee.” He was referring to the bus fare hike and made the statement on the sidelines of a function. The Minister went on to say that with the recent transport strike and the Corporation incurring losses, the hike, which happened after six years, was necessary.
“However, the price of minimum tickets had been raised from Rs 3 to 5. Also, the maximum ticket price for town buses is Rs 19 for cities like Madurai and Rs 25 for Chennai,” he added. When asked about the irrational price hike, Sellur Raju said, “Nowadays, one rupee has no value and common people do not accept less than Rs 5. Even beggars do not accept Re 1.”
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