The Maharashtra government on Wednesday cancelled the 10% seasonal fare hike of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) buses. MSRTC had planned to implement a 10% hike in fares of its ordinary, semi-luxury, sleeper-cum-sitting, air-conditioned Shivneri and Jan-Shivneri buses during the peak season of Diwali from Oct. 15 to Nov. 5.
Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik said that the fare hike was being cancelled after Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde instructed to do so, in light of the severe flood situation across Maharashtra.
In a release issued by his office, Sarnaik, who is also the chairman of the MSRTC, said crores of passengers would benefit due to the decision. However, this decision is likely to result in a loss of additional revenue for the cash-strapped public transport body.
Interestingly, for the second time in the last few months, Sarnaik, a Shiv Sena leader, had to cancel a seasonal fare hike of the MSRTC on the directive of Shinde, his party chief. Earlier in July, Shinde had asked him to cancel a 30% hike in fares of Ganapati special buses.
While the cancellation of fare hike will give some relief to passengers, the cash-strapped corporation, which is suffering heavy operational losses and struggling to pay salaries to its over 80,000 employees on time, will lose additional income of Rs 20-60 crore, an MSRTC official told news agency PTI.
"Shinde should ensure that the public transport body gets adequate compensation from the government," the official added. MSRTC operates a fleet of around 15,000 buses which ferry some 60 lakh passengers daily.
Last week, Sarnaik directed MSRTC officials to take strict against 34 of its depot heads who were allegedly absent from their workplaces amid heavy rains over the past few days. The state has been facing heavy rains since Sept. 20, especially Marathwada region, leaving farms and roads submerged and throwing traffic out of gear.
Sarnaik quoted a confidential report of the undertaking's security and vigilance department and said it was a very serious matter.
According to the report, heads of 34 out of 251 depots of MSRTC were not present at their duty stations even as heavy rainfall paralysed road traffic across Marathwada and Madhya Maharashtra.
"The depot head is the main component of the ST administration. Hundreds of employees work under him, night shifts are run, buses are stationed, and oil, fuel, spare parts worth lakhs, as well as large amounts of ticket sale revenue, are kept in the depot. The depot head is responsible for safeguarding and guiding all this. His absence at such a crucial time is unacceptable," he said, as reported b news agency PTI. The department controllers under whose supervision these depot heads function would also face questioning, he added.
(With PTI inputs)
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