SHILLONG, AUG 11: The Federation of Khasi Jaintia and Garo People (FKJGP) on Monday demanded to roll-back the government’s decision to revise the passenger fare of the public transport systems run by the Meghalaya Urban Development Authority (MUDA).
“We demand the government to take immediate action to roll back the fare hike in all public transport services in the interest of the public at large,” FKJGP president Joe Marwein said in a letter to the state urban affairs minister Ampareen Lyngdoh on Monday.
The demand came after the public criticized the decision by the MUDA to revise the passenger fare in buses and maxis under the Shillong Public Transport Service (SPTS), Shillong Special Public Transport Service (SSPTS) and Shillong Supplementary Transport Service (SSTS) with effect from August 1.
Terming the decision to hike the fare as unjustified and unreasonable, Marwein said, “This is going to have a severe impact on people who depend on this public transport service to commute from one part of the city to another, students and poor families.”
According to Marwein, the SPTS and SSPTS bus and SSTS maxi-taxi service in Shillong were launched under funding from Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and 13th Finance Commission respectively with the objective of providing smooth, uninterrupted and affordable public transport system to residents of the city and also to do away with monopolization by private transporters.
Marwein added, “However, the recent hike of passenger fare in SPTS, SSPTS and SSTS service has come as a rude shock to residents of the city especially the poor who cannot afford to travel on taxis and other private transport service.”
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The FKJGP also demanded that the government exempts school children (in uniform) from paying the fare in STPS and SSPTS buses in all routes of the city.- By Our Reporter
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