​Kasaragod: Around 450 private passenger buses remained off the roads across Kasaragod on Monday as operators observed a one-day token strike against the UDF government’s Priyadarshini scheme, which provides free travel for women, girls and transgender persons on KSRTC buses. The shutdown disrupted travel across the district, particularly in the hilly interior where KSRTC services are sparse.

The operators said the crisis had reached a stage where buses were being withdrawn from service. Five buses in Manjeshwar taluk and 10 in Kanhangad taluk have already submitted Form G, seeking temporary suspension of service because operations have become financially unviable, said T Lakshmanan, general secretary of the Kasaragod District Private Bus Operators’ Federation.

“Many operators have reached a stage where they don’t even have enough money to fill diesel. More G Forms will follow if the situation continues,” he said.

Lakshmanan, who owns the Sreeragam bus on the Kanhangad-Cheruvathur-Kayyur-Cheemeni route, said collections had fallen by ₹1,500 to ₹2,000 a day, while operating costs had increased by ₹600 to ₹800 because of higher diesel prices after the Assembly election.

“Before Priyadarshini, after paying wages and buying diesel, I could still take home about ₹2,500 a day. Today I can pay only around ₹600 as wages. I can’t pay the crew’s daily expenses, and at the end of the day, I have to put another ₹500 from my own pocket just to buy diesel for the next day’s service.”

Lakshmanan added that the Kasaragod-Mangaluru route too had been hit after Karnataka introduced free bus travel for students, while buses on the Kasaragod-Payyannur highway were no longer earning enough to cover fuel costs. “If this continues, the private bus sector will be wiped out,” he said.

Aswin Vinod, who drives his father’s bus on the Chittarikkal-Vellarikundu-Konnakkad route, said daily collections had dropped from around ₹6,500 - ₹6,800 to about ₹4,500. “Yesterday, by lunchtime at Panathur, after covering nearly 80 kilometres, we had collected only ₹1,400,” he said, adding that the bus required around ₹5,300 worth of diesel daily. “I’m driving my father’s bus without taking any salary. We can barely pay the conductor now.” His father now drives an autorickshaw to support the bus service.

Former NRI Rafi Pattani, who bought a bus with his savings, said he had taken over as driver without wages to save costs. “I drive the bus without any wage. The collection is just enough to pay the conductor.”

Meanwhile, bus employees accused the federation leadership of highlighting only owners’ concerns. One employee, Shafi, said daily wages had fallen from about ₹1,000 plus expenses to ₹300 or ₹400, while another, Rohit, said conductors and drivers were now left with barely ₹300 each after collections were split.

The strike, organised by the Kasaragod District Private Bus Operators’ Federation with support from INTUC, CITU and BMS, saw owners, workers and family members march from Anangoor to the District Collectorate before staging a sit-in. The federation has submitted eight demands, including limiting free travel to two trips a day through voter ID verification, excluding interstate and town-to-town services from the scheme, recognising private bus operations as an industry, exempting buses from road tax, providing a 50 per cent diesel subsidy and having the government bear workers’ welfare fund contributions.

The operators warned they would intensify the agitation if the government failed to intervene, with a relay protest planned in front of the Secretariat from July 20 to 26.