It is unlikely that commuters will get any respite from a more expensive Metro ride
No amount of muscle flexing by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government against the Metro fare hike has borne any fruit as the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is all set to roll out the revised fare from October 10. With the Centre, too, putting its weight behind the DMRC, it is unlikely that commuters will get any respite from a more expensive Metro ride.
Hoping that the corporation will cave in, the Delhi government had even threatened to remove DMRC Chief Dr Mangu Singh from the post, if the new fares were implemented.
In a letter, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot had warned of "action", if Singh, being the government representative, failed to represent its strong opposition to the fare.
The minister said that since Singh was selected by AAP, in consultation with the Centre, he was expected to convey the sentiments of the city government in the board meeting. This, too, got entangled in rules as AAP can only suggest the removal of the Metro chief. The final go-ahead has to come from the office of the Lieutenant-Governor (L-G).
As a last resort, the AAP government had directed Chief Secretary MM Kutty to hold an emergency meeting of all government-nominated directors on the rail corporation's panel, which also hit a technical snag as it is mandatory to give a seven-day notice period before convening the board. According to the DMRC sources, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had a lucky break when the board chairman agreed to convene the meet, but he did not have any locus standi to put new fares on hold.
Replying to Kejriwal's demand that the revised fares should be prevented from becoming a reality, Urban Development Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said it could be done, if the Delhi government was willing to give Rs 3,000 crore per annum to the DMRC over the next five years. Puri maintained that the money was required for a facility like Metro to survive and run efficiently.
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