CITU affiliated transport union expresses disappointment over Budget

CHENNAI: CITU-affiliated Tamil Nadu State Transport Employees Federation has expressed disappointment over the state Budget as the government did not fulfil their demand for budgetary allocations to compensate for the losses suffered by the Transport Corporation.

"We are disappointed over no announcement on compensating the transport corporations for the losses suffered by it for operating the buses on a service basis," the union said.

TNSTEF, however, said that the government has allocated Rs 8,056 crore in the Budget for the transport department in 2023-24 compared to Rs 5375 crore in 2022-23. For the free travel of women passengers, the government has allotted a subsidy of Rs 2,800 crore for 2023-24 as against Rs 1,520 crore in 2022-23.

For students' bus passes, the government has increased the allocation to Rs 1,300 crore in 2023-24 from Rs 928 crore in 2022-23. The diesel subsidy has also been increased to Rs 2,000 crore in 2023-24 from Rs 1,300 crore in 2022-23. The total subsidy allocated to the transport department has been increased by Rs 2681 crore to Rs 8,056 crore in 2023-24 from Rs 5,375 crore in 2022-23, it said.

The union also expressed its disappointment over not fulfilling the poll promise of implementing the old pension scheme.