THRISSUR: Kerala Bus Operators’ Federation on Saturday has said that it would launch an indefinite strike if bus fare is not increased by March 31. The federation members said that the date on which the indefinite strike will begin will be decided after discussions with other organisations of bus operators.
The federation members said that most of the bus owners were in crisis due to the pandemic-induced restrictions. “For the past four months, we have been asking the state government to increase the student fare. The minimum fare stage should also be raised to Rs 12,” said federation general secretary Lawrence Babu. Even the Justice Ramachandran Commission appointed by state government to study fare hike had noted that there was a need to increase minimum fare.
The federation said that the state government had allocated Rs 1,000 crore for KSRTC which has only 5,000 buses while it is turning a blind eye to the problems faced by private bus sector which has over 12000 vehicles.