Accusing the Centre of “discriminating” against Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday asked the Union government to set up an “independent expert group” to review the decision to hike Metro fares that came into effect on Tuesday.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation increased fares by ₹5 to ₹10 on Tuesday in the second phase of the hike announced in May. The fares had gone up in May as well. The Aam Aadmi Party government has been opposing the move, asking the Centre to reconsider or postpone it.
‘Serious flaws’
On Thursday, Mr. Kejriwal wrote to Hardeep Singh Puri, the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Minister of State (independent charge), asking for the establishing of an expert group independent of the Delhi and Central governments to look into the concerns raised by the AAP government.
“The organisation, management, control and accountability of DMRC suffer from serious flaws and the rationalisation and restructuring of DMRC seems an imminent necessity,” wrote the Chief Minister.
He argued that though the Delhi government and the Centre were “equal partners” in the Metro, the AAP government had “virtually no say in its management”.
Last week, Mr. Kejriwal had asked Mr. Puri to hold off the hike for some time, suggesting that the Delhi government and the Centre bear the losses equally. Mr. Puri had then said the Delhi government would have to bear all the losses.
‘Strange proposal’
Referring to that, Mr. Kejriwal wrote: “This is truly a strange proposition”. He also pointed out that the Centre had been bearing the complete losses of the Kolkata Metro.
The Centre has defended the DMRC’s decision to hike fares on the recommendation of the Fare Fixation Committee.
While the Delhi government also has a representative on the committee, the AAP dispensation has maintained that its stand against the hike was not considered. In June 2016, the Delhi government had written to the DMRC saying that it was against any increase in fares.
