The BJP government has failed to improve Delhi’s ruined public transport system— Haroon Yusuf
45 per cent drop in DTC ridership in 2025 compared to 2013 during congress government shows the failure of the BJP and the AAP Governments–Haroon Yusuf
In view of the increasing financial losses of DTC, the BJP Government should waive off the DTC loan burden at one go and restore the public transport system to serve the people effectively– Haroon Yusuf
NEW DELHI : Former Delhi Transport Minister Shri Haroon Yusuf, addressing a press conference at the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee office, Rajiv Bhawan here today, said that the DTC requires a total restructuring to make it viable and serve the people better as the previous Aam Aadmi Party Government and the present BJP Government have failed to revive the collapsed public transport system in Delhi. He said that the DTC was in a total mess with heavy losses debilitating the public transport system on which the common commuters depend. He said that around 14,000 new buses needed to be inducted into the DTC fleet to revive it, and to make it profitable, as presently, it was under a debut burden to the tune of Rs 65,000 crore and a total restructuring was the only way out. He said that thousands of buses are needed to serve the increasingly population of Delhi, and in the absence of enough DTC buses on the roads, private vehicles choke the roads, leading to severe spike in the air pollution.
Shri Haroon Yusuf said that in the last six months, the BJP government deployed 400 Devi electric buses which was too little too late, as in the last one-and-a-half years, 2,400 buses have gone off the roads and a deadline has been set to phase out 1,700 buses by next March. Along with this, 533 cluster buses have also been removed from the roads by the BJP Government, crippling the DTC service.
Apart from Shri Haroon Yusuf, Senior Spokesperson Dr. Onika Mehrotra and Vice Chairman of Communications Department Shri Anuj Attrey were also at the press conference.
Shri Haroon Yusuf said that in 2012-13, 46.77 lakh people used to travel by DTC buses every day, but there has been a decline of 45 per cent passengers to 22-25 lakh by 2023-24. He said that 99.15 per cent of buses running on the roads now are overaged, increasing the fuel consumption load and spike in air pollution. He said that the Kejriwal Government kept talking about bringing in new buses for 11 years but not a single new bus was added to the DTC fleet. Same is the case with the BJP government which has cheated the people of Delhi by running only 400 small last mile connectivity buses on big routes in the name of adding 2029 electric buses in 2025.
Shri Haroon Yusuf said that as per the CAG report of March 31, 2022, out of 814 routes in Delhi, only 468 routes were operated to make it 57% with 43% reduction on routes. He said that according to the CAG report of March 31, 2022, the losses of DTC have reached 60,750 crore, which is likely to increase to 65,000 crore in 2025. He said that the DTC has to bear a major part of the cost to pay the interest on the loan taken from the Delhi Government at about 57.48 percent, which is increasing year by year. He said that the BJP government should write off the DTC loan to bail it out of the debt crisis as the Congress government had done to make the DTC debt-free several times which helped the financial health of DTC in a stable condition.
Shri Haroon Yusuf said that the Congress government in 2010 had made public transport, including DTC, fully CNG-driven for the Commonwealth Games to make DTC the lifeline of Delhi, introduced low-floor buses to attract all classes of commuters to DTC. He said that the Congress Government had also regularized 18000 DTC employees to strengthen the department.
Shri Haroon Yusuf said that the Congress party demands that the DTC fleet should be financially strengthened by adding new buses to the fleet, and if the number of cluster buses are increased, the people of Delhi will get an improved public transport system in the Capital. He said that the BJP government was talking about bringing a new policy for industry and excise, but no such move to revive the DTC.
Smt Onika Mehrotra, Senior Spokesperson, said that the BJP government has failed to implement the schemes meant for women. She said that while there are not enough CCTV cameras in DTC buses, it is unfair to ask women passengers to produce identity proof documents, including Aadhaar card, and there was also talk of making Saheli cards as part of a conspiracy to end free rides to women in buses. She said that the Congress governments in Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh and Telangana have given free rides to women. She said that for better bus facilities for women of Delhi, there is a need for Pink Buses which can provide safe arrangements to women with facilities like CCTV cameras, panic buttons, GPS tracking and women conductors and drivers. She said that the introduction of these facilities will reduce the risk of harassment of women, especially working women and girl students travelling during peak times.
