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| Transporters make crores from 'Chavanni Athanni' | | CA&PD Minister shifts blame on 'public' | | Bivek Mathur
JAMMU, Jan 29: Transporters in the state particularly Mini-bus drivers who are also demanding hike of 40 % in freight charges covertly and overtly have amassed crores of rupees through the aberrant rates fixed by the Transport Department which till date have been fixed in fractions. However, the Minister concerned surprisingly disowns the lapses for failure of his department to fix the rates appropriately.
For Minister for CAPD and Transport Choudhary Ramzan the people themselves should raise voice against over-charging and accredits it to the lack of the awareness among public about its rights.
Pertinent to mention here only a few matador conductors abide by the set rules and used to paste a copy of freight fixed by the Transport Department. It is usually observed if anyone demands the returning of fractional currency is usually harassed by the conductors or defamed in public. The mini bus drivers often charge fare in whole number viz Rs 5 against minimum fare fixed as Rs 4.50 last year and for over a year they have been allegedly fleecing innocent commuters for their hard earned money.
Alleging an unholy politico-transporters nexus responsible for the fleecing of common public, Vinita Gupta (named changed) a housewife said, " last two years have witnessed the fare hike twice but every time the concerned officials and Ministry have opted hiking it in fractions earlier it was Rs 3.50 and then it was Rs 4.50 but the commuters were charged Rs 4 and Rs 5 respectively.
"No one knows where this huge chunk of money had gone if it was not in official records i.e. Government revenue then it had turned as the "black money' but officially,' she lamented.
Another commuter Ajay Gupta a Government teacher humming the same tunes alleged since late 70s the things virtually have changed in Jammu and Kashmir as Government public transport vanished slowly from the road paving way to the private sector courtesy alleged politico-transporters nexus.
When contacted about these anomalies in rates fixation which is usually decided through meeting between the members of Transport Union and the concerned Minister, the Minister for CA&PD Ch Mohd Ramzan simply shrugged his shoulders from his responsibility completely and shifted the blame to public saying it (public) is responsible for being fleeced i.e over charged.
It is entirely the responsibility of Union members as well as Ministers to fix rates avoiding fractional currency but the Minister did not own the fault and said, "Public can file complaints regarding the harassing by the conductors and they will be disposed off in the interest of general public".
Pertinent to mention here that as the new fares are on the cards the commuters are sitting fingers crossed and guessing how much they will be charged by the mini bus operators.
Again as there is nearly no facility of Inter-city deluxe Government buses for the general public like other developed cities of the country and Government's complete absence in this sector puts lakhs of people completely dependent on the private transport.
As per rough estimate approximately 2.5 Lakh people including student community used to travel by the private transport every day in Jammu city and its outskirts and all of them are over charged, the public is losing money in crores to the transporters but Minister seemed to be least bothered about the same and alleged public responsible for paying.
Transporters have demanded two similar hikes in the past 26 months and if the Cabinet will approve another hike, it would be third successive hike. |
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