BJP flays levying of charges on luggage in HRTC buses

Dharamsala, August 23

The BJP has flayed the Congress government for levying charges on carrying luggage in Himachal Road Transportation Corporation (HRTC) buses. The party has alleged that the state government had equated bus travel with air travel by levying charges on carrying luggage in the buses. The move would hit the poor.

In a press note issued here today, state co-media in-charge of the BJP Sanjay Sharma said there was a lack of coordination between the Chief Minister and his ministers due to a power tussle between them. As a result, the people of the state were suffering.

He said that the government should clarify that women, who used to pay 50 per cent of the fare in HRTC buses, would now have to pay one-fourth of the fare for the goods they carried with them. This decision was against women. This was also anti-farmer because a grower producing 20 kg to 25 kg vegetables used to transport his produce to the mandi by keeping it on the bus rooftop. But now, they would also have to pay fare for that, Sharma alleged

Earlier, people travelling in buses could carry their luggage for free. Now, they would have to pay charges for it. The state government was equating the bus travel with air travel, he added.