CHENNAI: Transport unions have welcomed Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s announcement in the Assembly that women would be allowed to travel free in suburban buses from October 2, but urged the State government to fully reimburse transport corporations for the revenue loss arising from the scheme.
The AITUC-affiliated Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporations Employees Federation general secretary R Arumugam said that the expansion of the fare-free travel scheme would reduce women’s financial burden and facilitate their access to education, employment and daily travel.
However, he said the government should compensate the corporations for the actual revenue loss, rather than merely allocating funds for the scheme.
The government has estimated the annual expenditure on the expanded scheme at around Rs 6,000 crore. However, the union said that the actual revenue loss could be substantially higher.
“With around 10,000 city buses and an estimated average loss of Rs 5,000 per bus per day, the loss could work out to nearly Rs 1,500 crore a month and Rs 18,000 crore annually,” he added.
“The government should also take into account the revenue shortfall arising from the fare-free travel of women and compensate the corporations accordingly. Under the earlier Vidiyal Payanam scheme, around Rs 3,200 crore was allocated for this in ordinary city buses, and even that was inadequate.”
Welcoming the announcement, the CITU-affiliated Tamil Nadu State Transport Employees Federation general secretary K Arumuganainar said that strengthening free and subsidised public transport would help reduce traffic congestion, accidents and environmental pollution.
“The amount paid by the government for free travel of women and students should not be treated merely as a subsidy. It should meet the entire difference between the revenue and expenditure of the transport corporations,” he opined.
The AITUC federation cited the government’s white paper in June, which put the corporations’ debt burden at Rs 61,642 crore and accumulated losses at Rs 72,667 crore.
The unions urged the government to provide special financial assistance to reduce the debt and accumulated losses and ensure that the corporations remained financially viable while continuing to provide affordable public transport.