CPM Rejects Minister’s Decision to Discontinue Electric Buses – A Policy Decision in the Works

2024-01-19 23:38:55

Thiruvananthapuram ∙ CPM rejected the minister KB Ganeshkumar who announced without any discussion that they will no longer buy electric buses which are low operating cost and environment friendly. State Secretary MV Govindan stated that the electric buses will not be discontinued and such decisions should not be made by the minister but by the cabinet and there will be a policy decision in this regard. He said that electric buses are a relief to the people.

Mayor Arya Rajendran and former mayor and CPM MLA VK Prashanth came forward in favor of electric bus service. Within three weeks of assuming charge, the front is also unhappy with Ganesh Kumar’s criticisms of the ex-minister in his departments saying that everything he did was wrong.

On the other hand, the minister who announced that electric buses are unprofitable, sought a report from the managing director of KSRTC yesterday to find out whether this is profitable due to the controversy. Meanwhile, CMD Biju Prabhakar instructed to write a letter informing that diesel buses should be provided instead of 45 electric buses that were to be received in Smart City and KIFB projects. When the new minister showed interest in the diesel bus, the CMD did not wait and took further action. The indication is that this has put pressure on the government.

KSRTC is now to get 45 buses through Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi smart city projects and KIFB. The minister’s announcement is about to start the tender process for these. Start the tender process only after taking the final decision whether electric bus or diesel bus.

English Summary:

Electric bus: CPM ‘shocked’ to Ganesh