DMK working president M.K. Stalin wrote to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and sought an immediate roll back of the hike in bus fares announced last week.
He said the State government was digging up new reasons for increasing the bus ticket prices. “In the 2017-18 policy note of the transport department, the government said that about 28.7% of the expenses went towards diesel, while only 3% was spent on maintenance. But now, the government is diverting the issue by saying diesel prices are rising, and maintenance costs are increasing,” he said.
“Despite claims that ticket prices here are less compared to neighbouring States, reports in the media prove otherwise and the Chief Minister must take that into consideration,” he said.
He said the hike in ticket prices has dealt a severe blow to the common citizen, small traders, farmers, women, and manual labourers. “Those who are going to hospitals, school and college students and people who use public transport have been pushed to untold suffering because of this move,” he noted.
The DMK leader said the Chief Minister would have understood the anger and suffering of the people that have been expressed through sudden and unplanned protests. Asking the CM to set right the administration of the transport corporations, he said the fare hike was an easy way out instead of fixing the problem. “The bus services were nationalised during the DMK regime to help the common people. But this move is aimed at destroying that,” he added.
Kamal hits out
In a tweet about the hike, actor Kamal Hassan said a poor people’s government would not have effected this price rise without consultation He tweeted that the government had completely shut itself off to advice from knowledgeable officers.
