THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Transport Minister C P John has informed the assembly that the state government has no desire to see private bus owners being the victims of the success of the Priyadarshini scheme and added that the KSRTC is ready to use private buses on a wet-lease basis.
He rejected the allegation that the drastic fall in the number of private buses was solely due to the Priyadarshini scheme and said studies show that from 2001 to 2026, before the introduction of the Priyadarshini scheme, there was 28 percent reduction in private buses. He said the main culprit for this was increased tax rates and the V D Satheesan government has taken a historic decision to slash it by half.
"After Priyadarshini. people are increasingly moving to the public transport system. Priyadarshini scheme has so far clocked 14 crore journeys, while the total women journey has increased by 101 percent. The government has no desire to see private bus owners being the victims of this success. That's why the Padmakumar Commission has been set up. To study the overlapping problem identified by Padmakumar Commission, we formed the Suresh Babu committee," he said.
Batting for better cohesion rather than destructive competition between the KSRTC and stage carriers, John said the KSRTC is ready to take private buses on wet-lease basis.
He said there were apprehensions among private owners whether they would get their payments on time from the KSRTC. Such apprehensions no longer exist and buses can be taken on lease after negotiating the rates, he added.