Bus owners press govt to ameliorate their hardship
Panaji: The government’s proposal on roping in private buses for the Kadamba Transport Corporation Limited is going nowhere, as the corporation has been beset with acute shortage of funds.
The government had proposed to hire private buses and wanted to pay as per kilometer traversed on monthly basis.
The delay in implementing the move over the last one year has disappointed many private bus operators, who have been badly affected by the coronavirus pandemic and the rising fuel prices.
The bus operators have threatened to stage a protest at the Azad Maidan if the issues affecting their livelihood are not resolved in seven days. The executive committee of the Goa State Private Bus Owners Association, which represents more than 900 private bus operators in the state, met on Saturday and took a decision to submit a memorandum to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday.
They set a deadline of seven days to increase subsidy for diesel to Rs 12 per liter and disburse pending fuel subsidy amount to beneficiaries.
The committee also asked the government to resolve their long-pending demand on exemption of payment of insurance premium.
“We haven’t received any communication on the proposal on hiring of buses. The subsidy was fixed at Rs 3 per litre when the diesel price was Rs 60. But now the diesel price has shot up to Rs 92. We would require subsidy of Rs 12 per litre to mitigate the daily loss of Rs 1200, which has been caused by the low occupancy in buses and the high fuel cost,” general secretary of the Goa State Private Bus Owner Association Mahesh Raikar maintained.
Each bus owner pays annual insurance premium of Rs 60,000 on a vehicle.
The association had earlier sought exemption on payment of the premium; it had also sought deferment of EMIs for three months without any additional interest for the exempted period.
Throwing light on the hardship faced by the bus operators in the state, president of the Goa State Private Bus Owners Association Sudesh Kalangutkar said, “Most of the bus owners are facing severe financial hardship as they don’t have a steady income since April last year. Banks and insurance companies are constantly pressurising them to pay their pending monthly instalments.”
The bus owners can’t wait for any longer, he said, urging the government to meet their demands.
“Otherwise we will start protesting,” Kalangutkar warned.