CHANDIGARH: Come June 15, the Punjab government will start plying Volvo buses to New Delhi airport from various parts of the state. Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann made this announcement on Friday afternoon and said that the service will break the monopoly of private players, who he accused of exploiting people.
Mann said the government would charge less than half of the private transporters. The chief minister rued that for decades, only private buses were plying on this route and looted the people by charging as per their own whims and fancies. Mann said that a number of NRIs who came to Punjab from abroad complained to him about only private players plying buses on this route and questioned why government buses were not running on the same route. He said that the booking of these buses can be easily done from the websites of Punjab Roadways and PUNBUS.
The CM said that gone are the days when taxpayer money was plundered by the leaders and deposited in banks but now this money will be judiciously used for the welfare of the common man. Mann sought support and cooperation from people to ensure the holistic development of the state.
With a huge NRI population that travels to Punjab regularly, the lack of government bus was a sore point for many in the state. The bus service to Delhi Airport, which was discontinued in November 2018, was first introduced in 2010. At the time, the then Congress government had accused the Delhi AAP government of stopping the Volvo bus service of the Punjab government to the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi with connivance with Akali leaders to benefit their private bus service. The issue was taken up in the assembly on a couple of occasions and the then transport ministers even sought the help of the Punjab unit of AAP to resolve the issue with Delhi government.
