Govt should invest in public buses, says Sirsa MP Kumari Selja

Sirsa, July 11

Sirsa MP Kumari Selja has criticised the state BJP government for issuing permits to private bus operators, claiming that its motive was to hand over the charge of the Haryana Roadways to private entities. She said the government might shut down the Transport Department once it got privatised.

She added that in order to preserve the state’s public transport service, the government should invest in new buses for the Haryana Roadways instead of issuing permits to private ones.

In a press statement, Selja highlighted a new notification issued by the Transport Department. She said, as per government orders, the department was planning on issuing permits for 362 routes on national highways, state highways and major district roads. The notification also proposes that private buses could operate on up to 50 per cent of these routes — which Selja described as an initial step towards privatising the roadways. She said eventually, more than half of the buses would be privatised, leading to the complete privatisation or shutdown of the Haryana Roadways.

Despite facing consistent opposition from employee organisations, the government had ignored their concerns, she said. Citing a PAC report, the MP said due to the government’s negligence, the roadways was suffering losses, adding that the lack of new buses and poor management were the primary reasons behind the downfall in the performance of the roadways’ buses.