Kerala private bus operators threaten indefinite strike over Priyadarshini scheme

Private bus operators in Kerala have threatened an indefinite strike over financial losses linked to KSRTC's Priyadarshini scheme offering free travel to women. Operators rejected an expert committee's recommendations and will decide on statewide service suspension at a September 8 meeting

Palakkad (Keralam): Private bus operators in Keralam on Sunday threatened to launch an indefinite strike over the financial impact of the KSRTC’s Priyadarshini scheme, saying the recommendations of an expert committee appointed to address their concerns are inadequate. Private bus operators are raising concerns about their businesses being affected after the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) implemented the Priyadarshini scheme, under which women are allowed to travel on ordinary-category buses for free.

Following the concerns raised by the private bus operators, the state government appointed an expert committee to study their issues. The committee, after conducting a study, recommended declaring private bus services an industry and extending their operational life from 22 to 25 years to arrest the sector’s decline in Keralam.  However, private bus operators claimed that committee’s recommendations reflect none of their major demands. T Gopinathan, general secretary of the All Kerala Bus Operators Association (AKBOA), said on Sunday that private bus operators would decide on halting services across the state at a meeting of the organisation’s state committee in Palakkad on September 8.

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“The recommendations in the expert committee report, which studied the situation following the implementation of the Priyadarshini scheme, are inadequate for private bus owners to sustain their business. We see no recommendations from the commission regarding our demand,” Gopinathan said.

He said the committee had failed to address several key demands of private bus operators, including introducing a zero-ticketing system for women passengers travelling on private buses, providing a subsidy on diesel and increasing student fares. AKBOA also called for increasing the minimum ticket price from Rs 10 to Rs 15. Gopinathan said the financial situation of private bus operators had become so difficult that they were unable to continue services even for a day.