SCRAP ST FARE HIKE PROPOSAL; UNJUST & UNFAIR 2nd BUS FARE HIKE IN 4 MONTHS !

Dear Sirs,

ST is common man's transport, particularly for crores of rural citizens of Maharashtra. As it is unbearable sky rocketing inflation making their lives miserable.

ST has recently hiked bus fare in June 2013.

Always only justifications given for fare hike as hike in diesel rates, increasing spares costs,increasing salaries & allowances ; Never ever the plan s,efforts,actions are mentioned to reduce costs, increase revenues etc.

Has ST made any promises with earlier bus fare hike proposals re better performance ?

What is their status ?

After earlier fare hike whether revenue generated on expected lines ?

If yes, then whether there was optimum utilisation of additional resources generated ?

If not; when is ST going to learn lessons bus fare hike is not good idea, there could be many more better solutions .

What happened to Toll Waiver ? how & where the saving is utilised ?

Compliments to ST for buying diesel at retail rates & saving Rs 13 per litre ? But then was it not part of earlier bus fare hike proposal ?

Has the saving been passed on to Commuters ?

What efforts MSRTC is making to get the diesel at subsidised rates as a public transport ?

Why ST is not considering buying CNG buses , where fuel is much cheaper & more eco-friendly?

There is tremendous scope in cost savings in Maintenance , administration etc.

The revenue can be substantially increased by better occupancy & plans like concessional bus fare at time slots & routes where buses are not fully occupied.

Either MSRTC has to be funded by STATE substantially or the Salaries & Wages be delinked from Pay Commissions & linked to Performance like any other private organisations.

Any more hike bus fare is unjust & unfair . It will deprive poor rural commuters from their basic need of mobility , it Shall also affect Education, Health & Employment.

Bus fare hike shall encourage illegal dangerous transport and private vehicles.Which in turn shall need more import of fuel & more precious foreign exchange.

Hakeem Committee recommendation to link with fare hike is totally unwarranted for the public transport like ST. iIf at all it may only be considered for fare revision of Auto rickshaws & taxis.

As such Your Goodself is requested to reject MSRTC proposal for fare hike.

jugal s rathi,

SAJAG NAGRIK MANCH & PMP PRAVASI MANCH