Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Shri Devender Yadav said that with the DTC bus service in a dilapidated condition, common people of Delhi have been depending more and more on the metro train service for their daily commute, even though the old minimum fare of Rs 10 was also unaffordable for common people. He said that with the latest fare hike ranging from Rs 1 to 4, travel by metro has become unaffordable for the ordinary commuters as daily wage earners and those with bare minimum monthly wages would not be able to spend over Rs 100 to 128 for their daily travel.
Delhi Congress President Devender Yadav criticizes the recent metro fare hike
Devender Yadav said that Delhi Metro’s justification for the fare hike is that fares had not been increased since 2017 is not convincing, as the Centrally-funded Delhi Metro is a public utility service, which should provide affordable public transport for the public, and should not be used as a profit-making exercise for the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). He said that with DTC bus service in a ruinous state with breakdowns of the DTC buses having become a common feature and due to the depleted fleet of buses, commuters have to wait for long hours to catch a bus, that too over crowded, and because of this daily torture, most daily commuters have been using the metro for their travel, but with the latest fare hike, common people will skip metro travel and the dilapidated DTC will not able to cater to the requirement of all the daily bus passengers.
calling it a burden on daily wage earners amid a failing DTC bus system and rising fuel prices,Devender Yadav said that the Triple Engine BJP Government, instead of providing relief to the people, have been taxing them in every possible manner as the frequent increase in the prices of petrol and diesel have made it difficult for people to use their private vehicles, and with more people opting for metro for their daily travel, the latest fare hike will leave the ordinary commuters in the lurch as neither they will be able to use the DTC bus service, which has become scarce, nor the metro, which has now become unaffordable for them, yet again exposing the anti-poor policies of the BJP Government at the Centre and in Delhi.