Transport Minister Sivasankar warned in Palladam that action would be taken against private Omni bus operators, for charging exorbitant fares from the public going to their native places for the Pongal festival.
Tiruppur: Participating in an annual day function of a private school at Azhagumalai near Palladam in Tiruppur district Transport Minister SS Sivasankar gave away prizes to the students who participated in district and state-level sports and yoga competitions
Later speaking to reporters Minister Sivasankar said that 16,000 special buses will be operated across Tamil Nadu from January 12 to 14, including special buses, from five terminuses in Chennai to enable the public to travel to their native places.
“Similarly, special buses would be operated in the opposite direction for return journeys”, the minister said.
While recalling that special arrangements were made by the Government of Tamil Nadu during the Deepavali festival, which enabled the public to travel without any difficulty to different parts of the state including Coimbatore, Tiruchy and Madurai, the minister said that "omnibuses should not hike fare and rules should be adhered to".
“Omnibus owners have been duly instructed by the government to end fleecing the passengers They have been advised by the Commissioner of Transport Department in this respect,” the Minister said.
“Strict action will be taken on omnibuses that violate traffic rules and hike fares during the Pongal festival. A special team of officers has been appointed for this purpose. They will inspect and monitor the operation of omnibuses during the Pongal rush” the minister said
Tirupur South MLA Selvaraj, school officials and party functionaries were present on the occasion.