The indefinite strike launched by the private bus operators demanding fare revision was called off on Sunday. The operators decided to end the strike considering an appeal made by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Transport Minister Antony Raju at a meeting held here with representatives of the bus operators.
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Lawrence Babu, general secretary, Kerala State Private Bus Operators’ Federation, said the meeting was cordial and the Chief Minister promised them that their demands would be considered favourably in the next Left Democratic Front (LDF) meeting on Wednesday. “Since we have faith in the Chief Minister, we decided to call off the strike,” said Mr. Babu.
Minister’s stance
However, Mr. Raju told the media that no new assurance was given to the bus owners since the government had earlier agreed to revise the fares. The bus strike launched on Wednesday midnight had entered the fourth day on Sunday inconveniencing passengers, especially students appearing for exams.
Although there are around 12,500 private buses in the State, hardly 7,500 buses were operating after the pandemic of which around 7,400 buses had kept off the road as part of the strike. The private bus operators have been demanding that the minimum fare be hiked to ₹12 from the current ₹8, the student concession to ₹6 from ₹2 and per kilometre rate to ₹1.10 apart from reducing the road and fuel tax.
Two-day strike on
Though the strike was withdrawn, the private bus operators would take part in the two-day nationwide strike called by trade unions on Monday and Tuesday against the ‘anti-labour policies of the Union government.’