Private bus operators welcome govt move to study impact of Shakti

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Lauding the government’s step to study the impact of the Shakti scheme on auto drivers and private bus operators, stakeholders of the profession and experts have welcomed it and said it is the need of the time.

On Wednesday, Minister for Transport Ramalinga Reddy said in the Assembly that the government will study its impact on auto drivers and private bus owners after one month of completion of the scheme.

The state government implemented the scheme on June 11, the first one among the five promised schemes by Congress. Speaking to News Trail, economist Soma Valliyappan said the move from the government is reasonable.

“It is a reasonable move from the government to study the impact of the scheme, which will help them understand about making a further step in their step to improvise the life of lower-income people”, he said.

He argued that the scheme was a social welfare step to help women, especially those from the lower economic strata to access jobs, schools, colleges, etc. On the other hand, a few private operators to whom News Trail spoke said it needs time for the government to study the impact and improve their lives.

“We reiterate our stand that we welcome the scheme, but we also want the government to support us. Our families and children will go hungry if the loss continues over the loss of female passengers”, said Vikram, the general secretary of Karnataka’s Private Bus Federation.

They have also urged the government to reduce the tax as it will reduce the burden.

They pay close to Rs 50,000 per vehicle as tax to the government per quarter. Meanwhile, the auto drivers also complained of huge losses because of the schemes.

“We have seen a decline in the number of bookings we get from the college students after the implementation of the free bus ride schemes as most of the students who used to book autos earlier have now opted for the free bus rides”, said an auto driver.

There are 4,69,619 autos there in the state while the number of private buses stands at 12,538.