Private bus operators call 3-day strike from Aug 20

A three-day strike from August 20 has been called by private bus and minibus operators in West Bengal today demanding a fare hike even as the state transport minister warned against the move. "Although the price of diesel was hiked by the Centre several times, bus fares were not increased by the state government in tune with it," Dipak Sarkar, vice-president of the Bengal Bus Syndicate said.

He said apart from the Joint Council of Bus Syndicate, Bengal Bus Syndicate, All Bengal Bus and Mini Bus Coordination Committee, North Bengal Bus Operator's Coordination Committee and Minibus Operators' Coordination Committee would take part in the strike.

Despite recent meetings of the all-party committee formed by the state government to look into the issue of bus fare hike and "assurance" by the transport minister in this regard, the strike call was given as no decision has been taken yet on the fare hike, Sarkar said.

The Mamata Banerjee government had agreed on a Rs 1 hike in bus fares in November 2012, but turned down pleas from bus operators for a further revision. Opposing the strike call, state transport minister Madan Mitra warned, "the government has the machinery to deal with the situation. Every time they (bus owners) can't issue a strike threat. It is becoming impossible to tolerate this nuisance." With the transport department already taking a tough stand to tackle the strike call and threatening bus owners that they would lose their permits, Mitra told PTI "Bus owners should remember permits are issued for the sake of passengers and not to cause inconvenience by resorting to frequent strike calls. This is unfortunate." The minister said the transport department would run its full fleet of buses during the strike so that commuters do not face much inconvenience. Mitra requested bus operators to withdraw the strike call, but refused to comment on an imminent fare revision.

He said the all-party committee was formed not to merely look into bus fares, but also to suggest ways to improve the transport sector.