Students protest over bus pass fare hike in Chikkaballapur

The fares are increased from Rs 950 to Rs 1,170 for 10 months

Raising slogans against the government, the protesters criticised the Transport minister for raising the pass rates. The rally passed through the important roads of the City. Later the protesters staged a dharna in front of the Assistant Commissioner’s office and submitted a memorandum to the Assistant Commissioner.

Earlier the government had fixed an amount of Rs 950 for the 10 month pass. However even then many students use to walk to schools unable to afford the money. In such situation the government has hiked the rate to Rs 1,170, they added.

Many families who are struggling to earn two square meals a day are taking debt to provide their children with the passes. The children in turn work during morning/evenings or in vacation to compensate the amount, they added. They questioned the government on its apathy to understand the problems of these families.

The education department has formed many schemes to provide education to all. For the schemes to be successful students have to attend the schools. The raising of the pass rates may also force some of the students to forego their studies. Hence the government must immediately reduce the rates of the bus pass.

The protesting students demanded that the pass period should be extended to one year and students should be allowed to travel even on Sundays. They also demanded the service to be extended to inter-state buses and sought an end to the harassment by KSTRC officials. The protesters also urged the government to issue passes from college campus.

Kiran, Vishwanath, Shivarudra Aradhya, Pavitra, Bhavani, Rani, Anushita, Arun, Sridhar, Eswar, Rajesh, Pramod and others participated in the protest.