MSRTC charges 18 students Rs 11,500 to reach Ahmednagar

PUNE: The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) will charge people, who wish to return to their home districts using the service, for now.
On Thursday, 18 stranded students were charged Rs 11,500, or approximately Rs 640 per person, to board a state transport bus from Pune to Ahmednagar. A private coaching centre in the city paid for the travel of the students, who were in the city preparing for the MPSC examination.
MSRTC’s Pune divisional controller Yamini Joshi told TOI, “We have received no instructions so far from the government on not charging a fare. The district collector had given us a no objection certificate and a list of students, who want to travel. One bus was booked for a non-stop ride from Pune to Ahmednagar. We did not receive instructions on providing them with food or water.”
When contacted, state transport minister Anil Parab said, “In my capacity as chairman of the MSRTC, I have written to the chief minister for a waiver of inter-district travel charge. Unless the request is approved, we will continue to collect charges.”
Parab said, “No individual travel is allowed by the MSRTC. A group of minimum 22 people is required to get a travel approval. We have adjusted the charges from Rs 56 per km to Rs 44 per km for now. Once the approval comes, no money will be charged.”
Mahesh Bade, representative of the MPSC students’ rights organization, said, “The list of students was revised many times to ensure those travelling lived outside red zones. Anand Patil from a private institute paid the MSRTC for the travel. The students had to go through a medical examination before they could board the bus.”