Students want half fare everywhere

Hours after transport owners announced that students travelling in buses in cities would pay half the fare, the agitating students yesterday said they want it for all modes of public transport and across the country.

They said they would continue their demonstration until the government issued a gazette accepting their demands.

At a press briefing at Chattogram Press Club yesterday, Khandaker Enayet Ullah, secretary general of Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association, said they accepted students' demand that half the fare be taken from them in public buses.

It will be effective in cities -- not in upazilas or on long routes -- from December 11 and students will pay half the fare between 7:00am and 8:00pm every day, he said.

Enayet Ullah said the discounted fare, however, would not be effective during public holidays and when educational institutions are on vacation. Besides, students would have to carry their ID card and be in uniform.

He hoped students would call off their agitation following the announcement, reported our staff correspondent in Chattogram.

The students hit the street after bus fares went up lately following a hike in diesel prices. The demonstration got bigger and called for road safety after two students were killed in the capital by recklessly driven vehicles.

Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, some of the road safety campaigners of Nirapad Sarak Andalan said they did not accept the conditions put forward by the transport owners.

"The road transport and bridges minister had said similar words in 2016 and 2018. Following a road safety movement earlier, the prime minister had accepted students' demand for 'half fare'. However, everything went back to square one later. We were fooled," said Inzamul Haque Ramim, one of the campaigners.

Half fare for students must be ensured through the issuance of a gazette and it must be applicable for all modes of public transport, including buses, trains, launches and metro rail, across the country, he said.

Another group of agitating students voiced similar demands.

The "half fare system" should be ensured all across the country and throughout day and night, said the students who began their demonstration following the death of a student in the capital's Rampura recently.

In Chattogram, Arif Mainuddin, president of Ganatantrik Chhatra Council, a student platform, said "Our demand is to the government, not to the transport owners. We demand that students will pay half the fare in public transport anywhere in the country."

DEMO FOR SAFE ROADS ON

 Students of several schools and colleges demonstrated on streets in Dhaka and several other districts, including Chattogram, Barishal, and Mymensingh, yesterday, demanding safe roads.

In Dhaka's Rampura, the protesters carried placards and cartoons highlighting irregularities and corruption in the transport sector. Speaking there, Shohagi Samia, a student of Khilgaon Model College, said a vested quarter was spreading propaganda against the demo in order to divert public attention towards a different direction.

She said that they would continue their movement until their 11-point demand was met.

The protesters said they would wear black badges today in memory of those killed in road accidents.

Carrying an empty coffin, another group of students, under the banner of Nirapad Sarak Andalan, brought out a procession near Shahbagh around 1:00pm.

Amid the presence of a huge number of police members, they marched towards TSC and held a rally there.

Inzamul Haque Ramim, a student of State University, said rain disrupted their demonstration in Dhaka, but human chain programme was being held in 18 districts across the country.

He alleged that the authorities obstructed their demo in Barishal. "Our demonstrations will continue. We will submit a memorandum to the railway ministry and the shipping ministry, seeking discounted fare for all students," he said.