Bus Owners will not go on strike...

Kolkata: In a relief for the city, bus and taxi operators on Thursday decided against a strike to protest the revised fares applicable from February 10 but said they would stage a sit-in to press for their demands for an upward revision in the fare regime.
The decision was taken at a meeting the bus-owners’ unions in the city held with the representatives from taxis and mini-buses unions, and Metro Channel was chosen as the venue of the protest on February 10.
“We have decided against a strike at this moment. We will hold a sit-in to raise our demands in front of the public and we will have taxi association members and mini bus unions along with us. We will monitor the situation and if the Government still does not show any signs of concern, we will organise further protests,” said Swarnakamal Saha, president, Bengal Bus Syndicate.
The first fare chart that was drawn up by the transport department met with severe criticism from the bus owners’ associations who said certain parameters such as increase in the sales tax and rising cost of petroleum products should have been considered before going in for the fare reduction.At a meeting with state Transport Minister Subhas Chakraborty on Tuesday, the bus-owners’ unions had threatened to go for large-scale protests and even strike if the government did not fulfil their demands.
On Thursday, around 18 associations in public transport services met and decided to wait and watch till February 10, when they would submit a memorandum the chief minister and transport minister.