New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday demanded chief minister Kejriwal to move the against the increase in Metro fares and questioned why the AAP government did not do so if it was against raising the ticket rates.
Mr Maken added that the Congress will move the court if the AAP government failed to do so.
“Is the report so sacrosanct and binding that it cannot be challenged in a court of law?” he asked.
“The report of the 4th fare fixation committee(FFC) was with the Central government and the Kejriwal government for past 15 months but they both did not challenge the fare hike,” chief told reporters on Tuesday.
“Both the Centre and the Delhi government sat on the report and did not challenge the fare hike. Instead, Mr Kejriwal was now making a hue and cry about the fare hike after the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) implemented the fare hike recommended by the 4th FFC,” he said.
Mr Maken wondered why the member from Delhi, K.K. Sharma, who was hand-picked by Mr Kejriwal as the chief secretary of Delhi, did not object to the fare hike despite being a member of the fare fixation committee. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) hiked the fares from October 10, the second this year after the May hike, despite opposition from the AAP government and other quarters.
Based on a recommendation of the 4th FFC, the Delhi Metro effected the fare hike, leading to a rise of around '10 for nearly every distance slab last month. This came barely five months of another hike of up to 100 per cent.
The FFC pointed that the fare of Airport Express Line is less than the maximum fare recommended by the 3rd FFC, but the DMRC proposed no changes in its fare, Mr Maken claimed.
“This means that the 4th FFC report is not binding on the government to implement it in totality,” he said.
Taking a dig at Mr Kejriwal, the Congress leader said, “Kejriwal has enough money to pay lawyers and on advertisements but why can’t he spend some money for the benefit of Metro commuters?”
