On Thursday, after the Ministry of Home Affairs announced one time inter-state and inter-district migration for stranded students, laborers, and pilgrims, a host of people assembled at the KSRTC bus stand to leave for their hometown only to find hiked prices.
According to sources, the Karnataka State Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has reportedly hiked prices of the tickets. The tickets of the buses that have been designated to carry stranded people to their hometown have been hiked massively. If reports are to be believed, the KSRTC buses are charging 39 rupees per kilometer apart from the toll fee and the round trip charges. A total charge of the trip is calculated which is then divided by 30 which is the number of passengers allowed to keep the social distancing norm.
For example, the price of a ticket for a passenger to commute to Bagalkot from Bengaluru is a whopping 1311 rupees. The same for Bidar is 1984 rupees which is the highest for an inter-district commute in the state. Similarly, for Belagavi it is 1478, for Kalburgi it is 1619, for Tumkuru it is 209, for Dharwad, it is 1239, etc. For a family of four to reach Bidar, the cost comes down to 8000 rupees. Among the stranded people are laborers who have not been able to afford food and shelter. For them, this is beyond reach.
Citizens urge the government to bear costs
The justification for the hike in prices has been that the buses should later return without passengers. It is also backed by the fact that buses are running only with 50 percent capacity. The move has caused outrage from people as they compare this to the situation of stranded Indians abroad. The Indians who were stranded abroad when the novel coronavirus pandemic broke out, special flights were designated to bring them back. Reportedly, they were not charged. The citizens question the government on the discrimination against the poor.
While the citizens urge the government to bear the cost and help the stranded people reach their hometowns for free, some have suggested to make the ride free for BPL cardholders at least. Although the government has allowed inter-district travel for stranded people, it is proving to be a costly affair for the people.
