Activists in Bengaluru have urged Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and state Transport Minister Laxman Savadi to restart the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus service in the city as lockdown restrictions are being lifted. The Bengaluru Bus Prayanikara Vedike wrote a letter to Yediyurappa and Laxman Savadi on Thursday arguing that everyone in the city does not own a private vehicle and not everyone lives near their place of work. Karnataka eased some restrictions from Monday, June 14, and allowed several industries to function with 50% capacity. With the latest guidelines only allowing those with private vehicles allowed to travel, activists argued that this was a discriminatory move. The BBPV has demanded that the government resume bus service following proper COVID-19 protocols.

“We have 6,300 buses. If we deploy all the buses and operate with adequate physical distancing and ventilation, we can provide safe mobility for the larger public during the pandemic,” the letter said. In addition to the demand of resuming BMTC bus service, the BBPV argued that many “have lost their jobs or have had no income for the past two months,” and hence, asked the fares to be fixed at Rs 5 and Rs 10 and not more. The BBPV also demanded that commuters have to be compensated for the bus pass in April, as it could not be used because of the road transport workers strike across Karnataka.

The BBVP in the letter said that if the reduction of fare causes stress on BMTC, the government must provide viability gap funding to the transport corporation to compensate for the revenue loss. The letter urged the government to consider transport workers as “frontline workers and create provisions for regular testing, priority vaccination, appropriate safety protocols and extend benefits such as health care and insurance cover to employees and families affected by COVID-19.”