Govt.’s intervention sought to resolve crisis gripping private bus sector
The Kerala State Motor and Engineering Labour Centre is calling for government intervention to address a financial crisis in the private bus sector. They claim that the state's free travel scheme for women on KSRTC buses has caused significant revenue losses for private operators, leading to service suspensions and job insecurity.
Why it matters
This highlights the tension between social welfare policies and the economic viability of private transport infrastructure in India.
The State leadership of the Kerala State Motor and Engineering Labour Centre, affiliated with the Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS), has demanded that the State government intervene to resolve the crisis in the private bus sector and the resulting job losses among workers.
This crisis has been triggered by the ‘Priyadarshini’ scheme, which offers free travel for women on the State-owned KSRTC ordinary services, the HMS leadership said at a meeting in Kozhikode.
The office-bearers, including State president Manoj Gopi and national working committee member Manayath Chandran, said that while the free travel scheme supported women’s empowerment, the lack of proper financial alternatives had plunged both public transport and private bus sectors, along with hundreds of workers who depended on them for their livelihood, into a severe crisis.
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