HDK to relook Cong’s free student bus pass scheme
Bengaluru, DHNS: The JD(S)-Congress coalition government headed by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy appears to be finding it difficult to implement the free bus pass scheme for students, announced by the previous Congress regime.
Kumaraswamy told reporters in Bengaluru that issuing free bus passes to students of all categories meant an additional financial burden of Rs 629 crore. He said the government would announce its final decision on the matter in a week’s time.
Earlier in the day, his Cabinet colleague and Transport Minister D C Thammanna had hinted that implementing the bus pass scheme would be difficult, as the state transport corporations were already reeling under losses of over Rs 500 crore.
Soon after he made this announcement, various student organisations threatened to stage statewide protests and picket KSRTC offices.
Kumaraswamy, who is scheduled to present a revised budget in July, is finding it tough to make financial allocations for the many schemes announced by the previous government, and also the proposals made independently by the Congress and the JD(S) in the election manifesto.
Officials said the bus pass scheme might take a back seat, owing to the commitment towards implementing the farm loan waiver, which was a big election promise.
Officials said that though the Finance Department had not approved the scheme, Siddaramaiah ensured that it was included in the 2018-19 budget in the last minute.
