AMRITSAR: Chasing Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal after staging dharna outside his official residence at Delhi yesterday, Punjab Transport Minister Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, today again cornered Kejriwal at Amritsar over the issue of barring STU buses and allowing Badal's buses plying up to IGI Airport.
Raja Warring reached the five-star hotel Hyatt here to meet Kejriwal, where he was staying and offered Kejriwal to meet him in front of the media but waited outside for hours but he didn't come up. Finally when Delhi Chief came out for his program, Raja Warring stopped Kejriwal and asked him to come clean on his stand over allowing Badal family owned Indo-Canadian buses to ply all across Delhi and stopping Punjab Roadways and PRTC buses.
Volvo buses of State Transport Undertaking (STU) have been barred from going to Indira Gandhi International Airport despite these buses charge only Rs.1200 per passengers, said Raja Warring, adding that but private buses owned by Badal family have been given all kinds of permissions and they are openly looting Punjabis by charging Rs.3000 to Rs.3500 per passenger.
"By doing so, Kejriwal was supporting the transport mafia which has been looting Punjab", said Raja Warring.
Punjab Transport Minister said that he was sure that Kejriwal will meet him in Delhi before leaving for Punjab yesterday but he had to reach Amritsar overnight as Kejriwal didn’t give him any time to meet him there at Delhi.
Raja Warring said, "after assuming office as Transport Minister, I wrote a letter to Kejriwal on October 7, 2021 asking for a suitable date and time for a meeting to resolve this long pending issue. My predecessor Ms. Razia Sultana also wrote several letters to Kejriwal but all in vain."
He said that so far, he had written as many as 13 letters to Kejriwal but he was still pretending to be unaware of the issue. Prior to this, the Principal Secretary Transport K. Siva Prasad has also raised the issue in writing to his Delhi counterpart four times from December 6, 2018 to August 21, 2019, but Kejriwal has neither stopped Indo-Canadian buses nor allowed Punjab Roadways and PRTC up to Delhi Airport.
Mr. Waring said that if Kejriwal is not happy to allow Punjab Roadways or PRTC buses up to Delhi Airport then he could start Delhi Government buses from IGI Airport to Punjab, assuring that the Punjab government will not stop these.
The transport minister also reminded that he has also raised the issue with Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia requesting him to issue necessary directions to Delhi Airport Parking Services to allow Punjab State Undertaking buses to facilitate passengers at the airport, lamenting that it was also of no avail.
Raja Warring said the Indo-Canadian buses could facilitate passengers from only one location to Delhi as per the permit instead of picking or dropping off passengers from multiple locations. He warned that Orbit had been given seven-day notice that all such permits of Indo-Canadian buses would be revoked if they did not refrain from doing so. After listening to Raja Warring, Kejriwal agreed to give him an appointment in the coming week.