Questions raised by Bangalore Bus Prayaanikara Vedike against anti-people BMTC bus fare hike
BMTC hiked fares last year but still has losses this year! Why so?
Govt. has fixed minimum wages for Garment workers at 5600. Contract employees in govt. offices get 4000Rs. How can any of them afford a bus pass of Rs.1045?
Why did the state government approve BMTCs fare hike proposal?
· Why did the state government not ask BMTC why the losses continue?
· Why didn’t the state government offer to absorb the losses and spare us the fare hike?
· Do you know that cars in Bangalore are subsidized? As per Karnataka’s industrial policy, State government is offering huge subsidies to car-manufacturers like Toyota. Thus a rich man buying an SUV is subsidized but BMTC is not!
· The Metro is subsidized to a tune of thousands of crores, similarly why doesn’t the state government offer a few hundred crores to BMTC which carries more than 52 lakh people! State government gives no support to BMTC! Shri Siddaramaiah has given 0 Rs support to BMTC in his budget!
It is time to change all of this! Time to demand a people friendly bus fare!
We want a fare structure, in which we will pay just 50 paise per kilomtere –
Rs. 5 for 10 km! Rs. 10 for 11-20 km! Rs. 15 for anything above 20 km!
Rs. 25 for Day Pass Rs.250 for Monthly Pass
Those earning below the minimum wage should be given free bus passes.
How did we decide this wage?
We decided Rs 250.00 as the monthly pass amount. Rs 250.00 is 5% of the government-mandated minimum wage.
BMTC is already under loss, how can they reduce fares?
BMTC cannot reduce fares on their own , hence we want the state government to support BMTC. They can do so in the following ways –
· BMTC pays several taxes to the state government – Tax on Diesel, Motor Vehicle Tax, Road Tax, VAT on spare parts. It is illogical for a public transport organization to pay taxes to the state government. The State government should re-imburse this amount to BMTC
· In Neighbouring Tamil Nadu , Chennai has almost the same Diesel fare as Bangalore , but has a minimum bus fare of 3Rs! This is possible because in T.N, the state government pays the salaries of the Transport Corporation. In neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, the state government absorbed the losses of the Road Transport Corporation.
· Government wants to spend thousands of crores on Metro which will carry 70% lesser people than BMTC but will not give BMTC even 10% of what it gives BMTC!
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| Protest against anti-people BMTC bus fare hike in Bangalore |
Govt. has fixed minimum wages for Garment workers at 5600. Contract employees in govt. offices get 4000Rs. How can any of them afford a bus pass of Rs.1045?
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| Protest against anti-people BMTC bus fare hike by women |
· Why did the state government not ask BMTC why the losses continue?
· Why didn’t the state government offer to absorb the losses and spare us the fare hike?
· Do you know that cars in Bangalore are subsidized? As per Karnataka’s industrial policy, State government is offering huge subsidies to car-manufacturers like Toyota. Thus a rich man buying an SUV is subsidized but BMTC is not!
· The Metro is subsidized to a tune of thousands of crores, similarly why doesn’t the state government offer a few hundred crores to BMTC which carries more than 52 lakh people! State government gives no support to BMTC! Shri Siddaramaiah has given 0 Rs support to BMTC in his budget!
It is time to change all of this! Time to demand a people friendly bus fare!
We want a fare structure, in which we will pay just 50 paise per kilomtere –
Rs. 5 for 10 km! Rs. 10 for 11-20 km! Rs. 15 for anything above 20 km!
Rs. 25 for Day Pass Rs.250 for Monthly Pass
Those earning below the minimum wage should be given free bus passes.
How did we decide this wage?
We decided Rs 250.00 as the monthly pass amount. Rs 250.00 is 5% of the government-mandated minimum wage.
BMTC is already under loss, how can they reduce fares?
BMTC cannot reduce fares on their own , hence we want the state government to support BMTC. They can do so in the following ways –
· BMTC pays several taxes to the state government – Tax on Diesel, Motor Vehicle Tax, Road Tax, VAT on spare parts. It is illogical for a public transport organization to pay taxes to the state government. The State government should re-imburse this amount to BMTC
· In Neighbouring Tamil Nadu , Chennai has almost the same Diesel fare as Bangalore , but has a minimum bus fare of 3Rs! This is possible because in T.N, the state government pays the salaries of the Transport Corporation. In neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, the state government absorbed the losses of the Road Transport Corporation.
· Government wants to spend thousands of crores on Metro which will carry 70% lesser people than BMTC but will not give BMTC even 10% of what it gives BMTC!
