In the run-up to Vinayagar Chaturthi, complaints that the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation had not arranged adequate bus services for people traveling to their hometowns have been making headlines over the past few days.
In this context, we put our questions to Transport Minister Vijay Tamilan Parthiban...
"In connection with Vinayagar Chaturthi, what exactly is the problem for the transport department in providing sufficient bus services?"
"There is no problem for the transport department... and there is no problem for the people either. Because, on behalf of the department, we had arranged bus services in numbers well above what was sufficient.
However, the opposition has been spreading false videos by blowing up minor practical issues that have arisen here and there.
Under the title, 'Has Tamil Nadu turned into Bihar...?', they tried to tarnish the government’s image by circulating a video from Karnataka showing passengers sitting on top of a bus. Similarly, they circulated an old video of a woman saying, 'There is not enough bus service.'
However, we have additionally operated only 40 buses to the concerned location. Once we released our side’s clarification statement on this, the woman’s video itself was removed from the internet. Similarly, a false report was also circulated saying that if you book a government bus online, they charge more money.
Through such false news, they have created the impression that passengers were inconvenienced... but in reality, passengers faced no inconvenience at all!"
" 'Were there not reports saying that the affected passengers themselves said that only the pre-booked tickets on government buses were canceled at the last minute, and no explanation was given about it?' "
"As you say, there was indeed a complaint from a young man that the state transport corporation itself had arbitrarily canceled the tickets he had already booked in advance. But only when we investigated this did we find evidence that the same young man had canceled the tickets himself. We have safely preserved all the evidence related to this, including CCTV footage."
In situations like this, since it is not advisable to take action against the people concerned, we called that young man in person and only advised him."
"During festival seasons, there are persistent allegations against omni buses that they even cancel the tickets of people who had already booked, at the last minute, and engage in fare gouging, aren't there?"
"We recently received such a complaint. Based on that, when we inquired with the concerned company, they explained, 'We have a total of 10 buses. Of those, 2 buses broke down, so only the tickets of the passengers who were to travel on them were canceled.'
From now on, if a reservation has to be canceled at the last minute like this, the concerned companies themselves must arrange alternative bus facilities for those passengers to travel. Otherwise, we will cancel the bus permit itself, we warned, and we have also issued a formal statement on this."
"Last time at the Kilambakkam bus stand, the video in which you repeatedly told the passenger you were arguing with, 'You have eaten... I have not eaten,' went viral. Is that why the minister did not make a direct visit this time?"
"They will put anything they want in the news. I wake up as early as 3 a.m. and go directly to each place, whether it is Kilambakkam or Koyambedu, and inspect it. But none of this becomes news.
In the incident you mentioned, that young man was not in a composed state. I had to use that word only to subtly point that out. Even when the police held that young man’s hand, I stopped it and sent him away. Even then, no case was filed against that young man for 'preventing a government employee from carrying out his duties.'
Not only that... On that day, in the buses that had already been reserved, elderly passengers without reservations got on, sat down, and refused to get off. What was to be done with them? Tell me honestly. But even for them, we arranged alternative buses and brought the issue to an end."
"During the previous government, special buses were operated only on holidays. But now, they say that even during festival seasons, special buses are not being operated in the required numbers?"
"How could so many lakhs of people have gone to their hometowns and returned without arranging special buses? In view of the Vinayagar Chaturthi holiday, we collected statistics on how many people from Chennai alone had gone to which places, and accordingly regulated the number of buses and made proper arrangements for passengers to return to Chennai. Because of that, people were able to return to their hometowns without any difficulty. You can ask the passengers yourselves if you want!"
"The festive-season fare exploitation by omni buses is continuing even under this government too... What steps have you taken to stop it?"
"It cannot be said that it is continuing. However, following complaints that some people were charging excessive fares, we conducted a proper inquiry and have seized 6 buses that violated the rules. We have also imposed fines on some others. During the inquiry, private bus association members say, 'It is not our members who are charging such excessive fares.'
This problem should not continue during the upcoming festival seasons, including Ayudha Pooja and Deepavali. Therefore, arrangements are being made to call private bus association members for a consultation meeting and streamline the regulations."