The decision of the Karnataka state government to withdraw free transport for migrants and instead charge them for transportation in an irrational way has come up as a shock for the migrants.
Bengaluru| Migrant workers facing hardships due to the nation-wide lockdown are now further bogged-down by the Karnataka government. The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is charging a hefty amount of fare to the migrants willing to travel back to their hometowns in buses.
The state government had allowed on 30 April to move the migrants, students stranded in the state to their hometowns. The decision was followed by the central government’s order to allow migrant movement across the country.
The state government had arranged buses for the movement, provided that the migrants will take the expenses of bus fare themselves.
The decision of the Karnataka state government to withdraw free transport for migrants and instead charge them for transportation in an irrational way has come up as a shock for the migrants. The fares for their transport have been skyrocketed on Friday stating that buses cannot carry more than a group of 30 migrants in one bus. The usual fare for these buses was Rs. 1 per kilometer. Now it has been raised drastically to Rs. 39 per kilometer.
According to KSRTC, the fares for an end to end non-AC buses from Kalaburagi, Vijayapura, Dharwad, Udupi were increased to Rs 1,619, Rs 1,509, Rs 1,239 and Rs 1,110 respectively. Before allowing the migrants to travel, the government has ensured medical check-up for all and has provided only one entry and exit point for these buses.
Thousands of migrant workers had contacted nodal officers so that they could go back home. The sudden hike in fares came as a shocker to them. Many had walked kilometers with their family and baggage only to realize after reaching to the bus that they didn’t have enough money to pay the hiked fares. Many of them had to return back without getting to travel on these buses.
KSRTC officials, however, said that around 14, 398 migrant workers were transported in buses from 24 April to 30 April free of cost.
After the free transport, the KSRTC official said, they have decided to charge fares for migrants coming in a group of 30.
“It will be an end to end service and no additional passengers will be allowed to board to ensure social distancing. They will have to pay for both trips since there won’t be passengers for the return journey,” the official said.
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