Kejriwal says willing take over Metro ops, make it more efficient
FACEOFF Says his govt will pay 50% of funds needed to run Metro if Centre pays rest; DMRC chief Mangu Singh meets chief minister
NEW DELHI: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday offered to take over Delhi Metro and promised to make the capital’s most popular mode of mass transport more efficient, his latest salvo in a face-off with the Centre over a proposed fare hike.
In a letter to Union housing and urban affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Kejriwal also said his government was willing to provide half of the funds required by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to meet the gap in operating finances but only if a matching grant is provided by the Centre. “Delhi CM Arvindkejriwal responds to union minister Hardeepspuri expresses willingness to provide a matching grant of ₹1,500 cr (sic),” tweeted Kejriwal’s media advisor, Nagendar Sharma.
The chief minister’s offer came a day after Puri said the Delhi government will have to pay ₹3,000 crore annually for five years to put off the Metro fare hike, set to be implemented from Tuesday.
Kejriwal has termed as “antipeople” the proposed hike, which will affect an estimated 28 lakh people who take the Metro daily in the national capital region that includes parts of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.
The hike will be the second in eight years.
DMRC managing director Mangu Singh met the chief minister on Sunday amid frantic efforts by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to stop the hike. Delhi transport minister Kailash Gahlot earlier threatened Singh to “remove” him from the post if the fare hike is implemented.
“If the central government
agrees, the Delhi government would be willing to takeover DMRC. We are confident that we will be able to fund DMRC by improving its efficiency rather than effecting steep fare hikes and provide affordable means of transport of Delhi people,” Kejriwal in the letter to Puri.
“I can understand your reservation about issuing a direction under the DMRC Act, the simpler course would be to advise the nominees of the central and Delhi government on the board of DMRC to postpone the hike for a few months,” Kejriwal added, though such a possibility looks remote.
The CM took a swipe at the Centre over his frequent allegations that the Bjp-led govern-
ment had been trying to create impediments for the AAP government. “From recent developments, it is becoming evident that the relationship is not one of equal partners since what the Delhi government proposes is often summarily disposed by the central government,” he added.
The Delhi assembly is likely to pass a proposal against the fare hike on Monday. The proposal was moved by Gahlot on Wednesday.
Delhi Metro’s minimum fare was increased from ₹8 to ₹10 while maximum from ₹30 to ₹50 in May this year. The new fare hike will make Metro rides costlier by a maximum of ₹10 for those who travel over two kilometres.