The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Bus fare hike riles Congress

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Aug 31, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Bus fare hike riles Congress

Special Correspondent

Party to stage protest on Tuesday

Mallikarjun Kharge

BANGALORE: The Congress will stage a State-wide protest on Tuesday against the State Government’s decision to hike bus fares.

Addressing presspersons here on Saturday, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly M. Mallikarjun Kharge criticised Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa for it. The Government’s decision on fare hike would affect people in rural areas, who are already hit by price rise.

Mr. Kharge said there was no justification for the Government to approve the bus fare hike. All State road transport undertakings, except the North-West State Road Transport Corporation, had earned huge profits in the last fiscal.

Notice

He took exception to the decision to serve notice on 2,000 Christian educational institutions for remaining closed on Friday. The schools remained closed to protest against the attack on Christians in Orissa.

Mr. Kharge opposed the Government’s frequent announcements on power cuts.

Minister for Energy K.S. Eshwarappa had made it a habit of making announcements on power cuts whenever parts of the State received heavy rain or whenever there was a break from rain, indicating total mismanagement of the power situation and lack of clarity. The Government had promised free power supply for IP sets of up to 10 hp by imposing various conditions, including clearing the pending bills in eight instalments within two years. It was obvious that with the intention of recovering the huge arrears, the Government had promised to implement its poll promise by making mandatory installation of meters in the next one year.

The Government had a biased attitude towards implementing drought relief measures in the State. Though it had declared 84 taluks as drought-hit, only a few talks had received funds for implementing relief measures, he alleged.

The Congress leader also criticised the Chief Minister’s U.S. tour and said the Government had no clear-cut policy on attracting investments to the State. If the Government offered all facilities, local entrepreneurs would come forward to invest.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka