This year so far, the price of fuel has dropped by about Rs16. If the reverse had happened, it would have been implemented in three of four phases, leading to three to four' hartal celebrations' in the state. Now that the total time for the price drop to be implemented in phases has elapsed, it is time that hiked travel fares are reverted to previous levels because the excuse for their hikes was the hike in fuel prices.
It is time that minimum bus charges, auto fares and taxi fares should be reverted to Rs5, Rs 12 and Rs 15, respectively.
If public transport fares were hiked taking into consideration a possible increase in fuel charges, then fares should also drop when there is a chance for fuel prices to drop in the near future. However, even as analysts believe that fuel prices would drop, there is no corresponding drop in prices in fares of public conveyances. Fare has become a peculiar animal that knows only to climb and gets struck if someone mentions that it should come down.
Now, has this unjustified fare hike prompted service providers to be more considerate and service minded? Students are pushed out from buses, taxis overcharge patients and poor people, and auto drivers are well known for their brash behaviour. Things have reached such a level that auto drivers often refuse passengers and prefer to go to such destinations that also suit them.
As public services providers benefit from unjustified fare hikes, do not the common people deserve to be treated well at least?
However, one can expect a better argument in response. Why is that the DA of pensioners, who apparently do nothing to earn, are not coming down in spite of a fall in fuel expenses? Considering that fuel cost is also a parameter on which DA is based, is it not obvious that DA also has to drop as fuel prices drop? Why is it that prices of food and other essential items do not fluctuate as with prices of fuel and only keeps rising despite a fall in prices of fuel?
One needs to consider the price hikes of essential services through the eyes of people who are not protected by unions or labour laws. We need to consider the plight of people who make ends meet through relentless labour and whose each move is watched by bosses who are looking for an excuse to cut wages.
For such people, the excuse of ever spiralling prices, is difficult to comprehend because when fuel prices increases, everything becomes costly, but when fuel prices drop, nothing is affected. How long would these people have to put up with such an ambiguous system with no justification?
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