DMK, opposition parties stage protest against bus fare hike

Stepping up pressure on the Tamil Nadu government to rollback steep bus fare hike, DMK led opposition parties in the state on Monday staged road roko across the state a day after the government announced a partial reduction in the hike.

A united opposition comprising DMK, Congress, CPI (M), CPI, MDMK, IUML and MMK protested the fare hike and the leaders courted arrest, including the leader of opposition MK Stalin.

"This is the first stage of the opposition parties' protests. The government's announcement of lowering the hike is only an eyewash. We want a full rollback of the bus fare hike," Stalin told reporters after his arrest along scores of his party works and other opposition parties at his Kolathur Assembly constituency here. He said the next course of action would be taken in consultation with other opposition parties.

MDMK founder Vaiko, while courting arrest at Saidapet here during the protests, said, "It's a huge burden on the poor and salaried people." The losses are due to "corruption and mismanagement in the state transport corporations", Vaiko claimed.

After a continuous protest by the students and political parties over the fare hike by about 20 to 50 percent that came into effect on January 20, Tamil Nadu government on Sunday revised the bus fares marginally. The reduction of fares was between two paise to 10 paise per km for various categories of buses and routes such as city, districts, express and ordinary services, a government release said.

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanisami charged opposition parties of resorting to agitation against revision of bus fare for political gains. "They instigate workers to protest for pay revision and also hold agitation against fare revision. How can the administration be run? The protests are to bring the crisis to the government," Palaniswami told reporters as DMK and allies held road blockades across the state.

"While the price of diesel was Rs 43.10 per litre in 2011, it shot up to Rs 67.23 per litre now. The cost of spare parts too became 30% expensive. That apart, we had to do wage revision every three years. We pay Rs 492.96 crore towards salaries now, Rs 240.59 crore higher than during the previous regime," Palaniswami said. The neighbouring states, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka, last revised the fares three years ago. "The fare in those states was higher than that in Tamil Nadu," he said. The chief minister said the revision had not made any difference as the corporations continued to make losses to the tune of Rs 8 crore a day.

PROTEST PATH

• A united opposition comprising DMK, Congress, CPI (M), CPI, MDMK, IUML and MMK protested the fare hike and the leaders courted arrest, including the leader of opposition MK Stalin. This is the first stage of the opposition parties’ protests.