Ctg students demand 50pc transport fare concession

Chittagong Students' Rights Conservation Forum holds a protest rally in Chittagong yesterday demanding, among others, a 50 percent reduction in public transport fares for students. Photo: STAR

The students in Chittagong yesterday demanded they be allowed to travel at half the fares on buses and other passenger vehicles, and student bus service be introduced.
In the 1990s Chittagong, students used to enjoy these facilities, while students of different cities including Dhaka are still having those, they said at a rally.
Against the backdrop that transport fares have increased to an intolerable level following price hikes, they raised the demand to ease suffering of the students.
Transport owners will not incur any loss if they offer 50 percent fare concession for only 50,000 students out of 2.50 lakh regular commuters of Chittagong city, they said.
As many as 800 buses run in the port city every day.
The rally was organised by Chittagong Students' Rights Conservation Forum (CSRCF) in front of Central Shaheed Minar in the port city yesterday.
The forum launched a 15-day programme including human chain, meeting, rally and signature collection campaign on March 14 to press home a four-point demand.
The two other demands are that the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) launch sufficient number of buses for mass people, and unreasonable price hike be stopped.
Different left-leaning student bodies, including Samajtantrik Chhatra Front, Bangladesh Students' Union, and Bangladesh Marma Students Council also took part in the rally and expressed solidarity with the demands.