Socialist Students’ Front demands half fare for students in metro rail

The Socialist Students’ Front has demanded the reduction of fares for metro rail services, including half fares for students.

The made the demand at a human chain formed in front of National Press Club in the capital today (12 September).

At the human chain, the political party’s Dhaka city unit’s Vice President Nowshin Sathi said, “The ruling class burdens the people with excessive costs by committing widespread corruption and siphoning off large sums of money by increasing the size of the budget through extending the timeframe of projects.”

“The metro rail fare in Bangladesh is twice the fares of local buses and five to six times higher than the metro rail fares in India and Pakistan. Such a large price cap is beyond the means of students and poor people. The collection of extra fares and not providing half fare for students are creating a new type of discrimination in the country,” Sathi added.

The Socialist Students’ Front leaders said they will submit a memorandum in this regard to the road transport and bridges adviser.

Stating that the previous government had turned the transport sector into a sanctuary of corruption, the party’s General Secretary Saima Afroz said, “The initial cost of building the metro rail was set at Tk22,000 crore, which later shot up to Tk33,000 crore. The cost of construction for Dhaka’s metro rail was twice the amount which was needed to build metro rails in Indonesia’s Jakarta and Pakistan’s Lahore.”

Among the others who talked at the human chain were the party’s Dhaka city unit Publicity and Publication Secretary Nahian Rehman Rahat and Organising Secretary Pankajnath Shurjo.