BJP slams Odisha govt for bus fare hike

Reported by Chinmaya Dehury
Bhubaneswar, Aug 19:

The BJP in Odisha today protested the move by the state government to hike bus fare from September 1.

“Recently, the government had hiked value added tax (VAT) on petroleum products. Now, it has announced to hike bus fare to appease the bus owners, ignoring the plight of common people. The decision of government has added to the woes of the people who are already suffering due to price rise,” said BJP spokesperson Sajjan Sharma.

In a press statement, Sharma said the proposed hike is the government’s Puja gift to the people and termed it as an ‘immoral and irresponsible act’.

Earlier today, the government had announced its decision to hike the bus fare by 5 to 8 paise per kilometer. The fare hike for the passenger and express, deluxe and AC buses is 5 paise, 7 paise and 8 paise per km respectively.

Following the hike in bus fare, the passengers will now pay 64 paise per km for passenger buses, 67 paise per km for express buses, 89 paise for deluxe buses and Rs 1.08 for AC buses.