Karnataka Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy on Friday justified 15 per cent increase in government bus fares across the board and hit out at the BJP for its protest against the hike.
Since there was a need to revise the salaries of transport staff, the bus fare revision was inevitable, he noted.
Addressing reporters here, the minister said all the four corporations, namely Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, KKRTC Kalyana Road Transport Corporation, North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation and Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation, had been demanding an increase in bus fares.
Finally, the government took a call in the cabinet meeting on Thursday, Reddy said.
The minister said that way back in 2014, when he was holding the transport portfolio, bus fares were increased. When the diesel prices came down, the fares were slashed by two per cent, he added.
On January 20, 2020, the then BJP government increased the bus fares by 12 per cent in KSRTC, KKRTC and NWKRTC.
"Those who took part in the protest today were responsible for the hike in bus fare in 2020. BJP leader R Ashoka who led the agitation today was the transport minister in 2020, who effected the hike," he quipped.
According to the minister, in 2020, when the BJP was in power, the daily spending on diesel was Rs 9.16 crore, which has now gone up to Rs 13.21 crore.
The daily operational cost, including the spending on fuel and staff was Rs 12.85 crore in 2020. Now, it has gone up to Rs 18.86 crore daily, he explained.
"The most important thing is that when I took over as the transport minister in 2023, I found the BJP had left behind a debt of Rs 5,900 crore towards Provident Fund, gratuity and pending bills," the minister said.
Reddy slammed the BJP for blaming the Shakti scheme, one of the five pre-poll guarantees of the Congress government.
"BJP is blaming the Shakti scheme because they are ‘Manuvadis’ and hence, they are against women empowerment. The government has transferred Rs 8,800 crore for the Shakti scheme to the four corporations," the minister said.
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