Deride Vijai’s statement calling Tamhankar a bus conductor, ask him to take it back
TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: The All Goa Private Bus Owners Association have called for the scrapping of the KTC pass system, asserting that the government had not taken the private bus operators into account before introducing the pass system.
Addressing the media, Association vice-president Sheikh Fayaz said that the government had never taken the bus owners into confidence before introducing the pass system. He, however, said the Association has not taken any final stand on the government’s offer to run private buses on kilometre basis, saying the consultative process is underway amongst the private bus operators.
“We are having route wise meeting with various operators. When the process is over, we will come out with the final stand. There may be some operators who have welcomed the government offer, but they have not done it willingly as they feared death knell for them on account of the pass system”, he added.
When his attention was drawn to reports that Canacona private bus operators have agreed to hand over their buses to the KTC, Fayaz said that not all operators have accepted the government offer. Moreover, he demanded to know the scheme, saying that the government has only promised to work out a scheme.
Saying that the KTC pass system has spelled trouble for the private bus operators, he demanded that the pass system should be restricted to the nationalised routes, leaving competition between the KTC and private operators on other routes.
Meanwhile, the Association took strong exception to Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardessai’s statement describing Congress spokesman Sudip Tamhankar as a bus conductor. “This is highly insulting. Sudip is not a bus conductor, but a bus owner. Vijai should take back his statement immediately,” he demanded, while reminding the Fatorda MLA that the bus owners, conductors and drivers had supported him in the 2012 Assembly polls.
