[sustran] 'Populist' CM turns down bus fare hike plea

[Vinay Baindur]

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-08-12/kolkata/33167068_1_fare-hike-chief-minister-bus-syndicates

'Populist' CM turns down fare hike plea
TNN Aug 12, 2012, 02.36AM IST
  Tags:

   - Transport minister<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Transport-minister>
   |
   - Partha Chatterjee<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Partha-Chatterjee>
   |
   - Mamata Banerjee<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Mamata-Banerjee>
   |
   - fare hike <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/fare-hike>

KOLKATA: Transport operators were elated when Mamata
Banerjee<http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/Mamata-Banerjee>
gave
a patient hearing to their plight on Saturday. But their moment of joy
turned out to be a brief one with the chief minister sticking to her
populist stance and turning down any possibility of imposing a fare hike on
the passengers. To add to the operators' woes, the government also resolved
to issue the order on a "back-door revision of fares for state buses and
trams".

Transport minister Madan Mitra had announced the decision on June 2. Two
months on, industries minister Partha Chatterjee, who briefed the media on
the outcome of the meeting between the chief minister and the group of
ministers (formed to look into the ailing transport sector), said, "The
announcement was made two months ago. We are going to issue the order now."
The state government had decided to hike the minimum fare of Rs 4.50 on
CSTC buses to Rs 5 on the pretext of shortage of small change. For trams,
the base slab of Rs 3.50 will be removed and a common fare of Rs 4 will be
introduced.


Mamata has been denying market pressure and cost escalations to maintain
her "populist" image ever since she became the chief minister of the state.
Earlier, she had opposed hike in power tariff and milk prices and suggested
introduction of new products to make up for the losses. Much on these
lines, the chief minister on Saturday evaded the core issue of upward
revision of fare and talked about alternate ways to generate revenue for
private buses.

The chief minister had promised to meet the busowners when they responded
to her appeal and called off the July 31 strike. She kept her word on
Saturday and became the first chief minister in the state to hold a meeting
with bus operators at the Writers' Buildings.

"The chief minister is looking at revenue generation rather than a fare
hike. To that end, the government will do what needs to be done. Public
vehicles can make money through advertisements, provided they follow the
rules and desist from obscene displays," the industries minister said.

"The meeting has served no purpose. The government is harping on ad
revenue, but how will 12,000 private operators get so many publicity
contracts. For argument's sake, even if we are able to make Rs 400 a day
through ads, how can we bridge the gap of another Rs 400 a day? A busowner
spends Rs 800 extra per day on fuel. The cost goes up by Rs 1,200 in the
districts," explained Tapan Banerjee of the Joint Council of Bus Syndicates
(JCBS). Dipak Sarkar of the Bengal Bus Syndicate echoed, "A fare hike is
the only solution to our problems."

According to Banerjee, the last fare hike took place on July 1, 2009, when
a litre of diesel would cost Rs 35.03. The fuel price has been hiked eight
times ever since and now stands at Rs 44.72 after the last revision on July
25. Those operating JNNURM-funded buses must cough up more since higher
quality diesel costs Rs 48.77 a litre.

Sadhan Das of the JCBS said, "We are happy that the chief minister gave us
a patient hearing. This is the first time a CM has met us. But it's
becoming impossible to run buses."