Rights bodies demand taking bus fares to pre-pandemic level

Rights activists on Tuesday formed a human chain at Shahbagh in the city demanding withdrawal of the government's order raising transport fares by 60 per cent during the Covid-19 pandemic and stopping harassment of passengers by transport workers.

They alleged that the transport workers don't follow the government's health gidelines and they also charge from the passengers the fare even above the rates fixed by the government for the pandemic period.

The activists also presented a set of recommendations, including assurances frm the authority that no transport operators will charge the additional fare. Their five-point-recommendation mainly aims at ensuring a chaos-free public transport sector.

Different rights organisations, including Save the Environment Movement (Poribesh Bachao Andolon or POBA), WBB Trust, Bangladesh Hawkers Federation and Dhaka Youth Foundation, jointly organised the programme in front of the National Museum.

POBA chairman Abu Naser Khan, its secretary Ferdous Ahmed Ujjal and Bangladesh Hawkers' League president M A Kashem joined the programme and spoke, according to a statement.

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