[ad_1]
Chandigarh:
The Haryana authorities on Sunday stated there might be no free journey facility for ladies in state roadways buses on the event of Raksha Bandhan this 12 months in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The authorities’s choice, which got here on the eve of Raksha Bandhan, drew criticism from senior Congress chief Bhupinder Singh Hooda. He stated as a substitute of utilizing the pandemic as an excuse, the federal government ought to run extra buses to make sure social distancing.
“The free (travel) service has been discontinued (for women) on Monday this time in view of the COVID-19 situation as a limited number of people are allowed to travel in a bus,” Haryana Transport Minister Mool Chand Sharma stated.
“In a 52-seater bus, only 30 passengers are allowed to travel,” he stated.
Mr Sharma additionally appealed to individuals to keep up social distancing, put on face masks and sanitise their arms earlier than boarding the buses.
Hitting out on the authorities over the choice, Mr Hooda alleged it’ll put undue burden on a lot of households dealing with monetary misery attributable to months of lockdown and an financial slowdown within the nation.
“This will be the first time in 14 years that the government will collect fare from women on Raksha Bandhan. Our government started this free bus service giving women of the state a gift on Raksha Bandhan,” the previous Haryana Chief Minister stated.
He stated the federal government ought to rethink its choice.
Mr Hooda stated the federal government shouldn’t give the excuse of COVID-19 to discontinue the free journey service on Raksha Bandhan and as a substitute run extra buses to keep away from crowding and guarantee social distancing and security of ladies who will go to their brothers.
[ad_2]
Source hyperlink