Blueline agreement in a day or two

NEW DELHI, June 19: The stalemate over the phase-out of the Bluelines continued even as talks were held again today. However, both the bus operators and the Delhi Transport Minister felt that an agreement might be reached in “a day or two”. Around 3,500 buses stayed off the roads, the commuters did not miss them with more than 2,000 chartered buses and inter-state buses replacing them. Commuters caught in the peak-hour rush, however, complained of a lack of proper signboards displaying routes on the buses. Many avoided the rush hours to commute.

When asked when the stalemate would end, Transport Minister Rajendra Gupta said: “I am not going to say exactly when a solution would be reached. Last time I did that the bus operators went back on their word.” He said the main issues of the negotiations were of a royalty of Rs 3,000 and security of Rs 10,000. “They have asked for a day to decide. The government is waiting,” he said. Earlier, Gupta had said that if by Monday, the bus operators do not reach an agreement then they will have to come under the km-scheme, against which they have been protesting. Schism appeared in the Blueline bus unions with the STA Nyay Panchayat ready to proceed with a dialogue with the Delhi government and the Delhi Bus Operators Union saying that it would not budge from its stand.

President of the Panchayat Ramesh Dalal, who talked to the Delhi Transport Minister Rajendra Gupta today, said: “An agreement would be reached in a couple of days. The government has agreed on not imposing pass-holders on us and giving us five-year permits in one go. But negotiations are on about the royalty money of Rs 3,000 and security of Rs 10,000 per bus.” According to him, after a meeting of the bus operators on Saturday the agreement to be reached with the government will take final shape. On the other hand, the Delhi Bus Operators Union has been taking a less conciliatory stand saying that they would “

not hold talks” with the Transport Minister. In a related development, a group of physically handicapped people have prayed that the Delhi government not scrap their DTC pass facility. In a statement today, people suffering with various physical disabilities have said that withdrawing the DTC pass facility from them would be “nothing less than an inhuman act to an already deprived lot”.