Minister Sarnaik rejects proposed 15% ST bus fare hike for Diwali rush

Mumbai: Transport Minister and ST Mahamandal chairman Pratap Sarnaik has rejected a proposed 15 per cent temporary fare hike for the Diwali rush season. He asked why an additional fare burden should be placed on the public when farmers are battered by drought, ordinary people are struggling with inflation and people are exhausted from feeding their families.

A temporary increase in ST passenger fares is made every year during the Diwali rush. This time too, the ST administration had sent the minister a proposal for a straight 15 per cent increase in passenger fares between November 1 and 15, 2026. The minister said it was not right to burden further a public already in financial distress, and therefore rejected the proposal.

Sarnaik said plainly, "I cannot accept rubbing salt into the wounds of a public already beset by crises by giving it the shock of a fare hike."

He said that even if the ST Mahamandal is incurring financial losses, it would not be right to recover them from ordinary passengers. The ST's Lalpari is part of the daily life of lakhs of people in rural Maharashtra. For farmers, farm labourers, students, salaried workers, the elderly and working people, it is a major support for cheap travel. A fare increase would have directly affected their day-to-day expenses. For families troubled by drought in particular, it would have been hard to bear the additional burden.

Minister Sarnaik expressed confidence and said, "This government is sensitive. It will not abandon farmers and the common people in times of crisis." He said it is the government's responsibility to understand the public's difficulties and give it relief. Financial calculations are necessary, he said, but the suffering of people and their struggle to live must also be considered.

According to Sarnaik, other measures should be found to deal with the ST Mahamandal's financial difficulties. Providing safe, reliable and affordable passenger service from remote villages to cities is the Mahamandal's basic duty. Solutions must therefore be found through other routes instead of passing the burden of losses directly on to passengers.

He said, "In times of public distress, it is more important to wipe the tears from people's eyes than to put a hand in their pockets. We will find other ways to deal with the ST's financial hurdles, but we will not forget our duty to give relief to a public in trouble." With this thinking, he rejected the proposed fare hike and decided to give relief to ordinary passengers.