Indore
Even after the government’s nod for plying buses in Yellow and Green Zone in Madhya Pradesh from June 1, the bus associations will not start the service citing safety and security of the staff. The associations also demanded the government to waive off the tax on the buses for lockdown period.
State President of Prime Route Bus Owners Association Govind Sharma said, “We will not start our service from June 1 across the state. As many as 35,000 passenger buses will remain on halt even after completion of the lockdown period.”
Sharma said that there are various reasons due to which they will not start the service and the major one is safety and security of the passengers as social distancing may go for a toss initially while operating the buses.
“We have also demanded the government to waive off the taxes on the buses for three months including April, May and June as business was shut due to lockdown. About 54 district associations have submitted the memorandum to the government but to no avail,” Sharma said.
The president of association claimed that the bus owners are bearing a loss of Rs 1.25 lakh on each bus per month due to the taxes, instalments, insurance and staff salary.
Our major demands include tax waive off for three months, clear guidelines for the buses to run post lockdown, state-wide discussion with the bus owners for guidelines and planning and unemployment allowance of Rs 5,000 per month to the driver, conductors and other staff of the buses.
