'Centre told Delhi chief secy to turn down CM's order to probe

metro fare hike'New Delhi, Oct 14 (PTI) The Centre has instructed theDelhi Chief Secretary to turn down Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal's direction ...
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metro fare hike'New Delhi, Oct 14 (PTI) The Centre has instructed theDelhi Chief Secretary to turn down Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal's direction to order a probe into the issue of DelhiMetro's fare hike and other related issues, the Delhigovernment said today.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia shared acommunication from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairsto Chief Secretary M M Kutty with reporters suggesting thesame, which, he said, vindicates the government's positionthat Kutty was "stalling the process at the BJP's behest".

"DMRC is not a state PSU. It has been organised as a50:50 equity partnership of the Central government and thestate government. Therefore, it is neither Central nor statePSU. It is a Board run government company. Therefore, stategovernment has no authority to make an enquiry into DMRCaffairs," the letter to Kutty states.

Sisodia said the government was not buying metro'scontention that it had to resort to a fare hike since it wasrunning on losses.

"We will ensure that a probe is done. The Delhi Assemblyhas every right to get a probe done. The House Committee isalready conducting one," he said.

The communication from the Ministry of Housing and UrbanAffairs, however, clearly states that neither the Dialogue andDevelopment Commission of Delhi nor the Delhi government has"competence to inquire into metro's affairs.""Why are we even running the metro? To benefit whom?Congress used to deploy the the same logic of discoms runningon losses to increase power tariff in Delhi. We have neverinterfered in metro operations. We believe metro isn't someprofit making company," Sisodia said.

The fare hike that came into effect from October 10,increased ticket prices to Rs 10 for all travels beyond 5 km.

The hike which comes barely five months within the last one,will affect every commuter who travels beyond 5 km.

The maximum fare, for journeys beyond 32 km, willnow be Rs 60. PTI SBR VITAQS.

This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.

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