TN Transport Minister flays AIADMK over auto fare issue

Chennai, Sep 5 (UNI) Tamil Nadu Transport Minister K N Nehru today flayed AIADMK General Secretary J Jayalalithaa for criticising the government on the auto fare issue in the state.

In a hard hitting statement here, the minister said Ms Jayalalithaa, who had never allowed the auto fare to be raised during her regime, was now shedding crocodile tears and the autorickshaw drivers would not believe her.

He said the fuel prices were hiked for a record 56 times during the previous AIADMK regime, but Ms Jayalalithaa never allowed the auto fares to be revised. When the DMK came to power in 1996, the fares were revised, but the next Jayalalithaa regime, left it unchanged. However, the AIADMK leader was now trying to give an impression that she was interested in protecting the rights of the drivers.

Again when the DMK came to power in May last, the government held discussions with various representatives of autorickshaw drivers and consumer fora. Based on the report submitted by the Anna University, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi fixed the minium fare at Rs 14 and Rs six per every additional km. The new fare structure came into effect from January this year in the city, he said.

In respect of districts, the collectors were empowered to hold talks with the representatives and revise the fare. When the Coimbatore District Collector was holding talks, a driver committed self-immolation, demanding that the fare fixed for Chennai should be fixed for Coimbatore too.

The DMK district unit immediately distributed a sum of Rs 55,000 to the family and on behalf of the Government also, financial assistance would be given to the family, Mr Nehru said.

Covering up all these facts, Ms Jayalalithaa was trying to project herself as the champion of the autorickshaw drivers, but they were not willing to believe her, the Minister added.

UNI