CHENNAI: The
DMK on Tuesday criticised the
Tamil Nadu government's move to increase monthly
bus pass price from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,300.
In a statement, DMK president
M K Stalin said, "Only poor and middle class people are travelling in buses in Chennai and other corporations. By hiking the tariff, the government will increase the losses of the transport corporations."
He urged the government not to raise the price.
Recalling the increase in bus tariff in 2011, Stalin said "Soon after taking charge, former chief minister J Jayalalithaa increased the bus tariff by 50%. Very soon the number of people travelling in government buses came down to two crore. Again, the tariff was increased in 2018, and the number of people travelling in government buses came down to 1.50 crore."
Buses were not running on time, he said, adding that several buses came together in some places, confusing commuters.
"There are around 448 new buses. They are yet to be introduced. Each bus was purchased at a cost of Rs 30 lakh," he said.