Students reject transport owners proposal

Agitating students have categorically rejected a proposal from public transport owners. They took position outside the BRTA office on Tuesday, and said they would continue to do so until the government issued an official gazette accepting their nine-point charter for demands, which include halving fares for students on all public transports across the country.

The protesters said the government had given students hope and made many promises during the safe road movement in 2018, but none of them were turned into reality.

They asked if the government had thought students outside the capital city were not poor.

On Tuesday morning, Dhaka Road Transport Owners' Association General Secretary Khandaker Enayet Ullah announced that public transport owners had agreed to allowing half fares from students only in Dhaka city from December 1.

Students would have to show their ID cards to avail the discount and the facility would be available from 7am to 8pm. The student discount would not apply on government and weekly holidays, or during seasonal vacations.

Agitating students, said: “Bus owners said that half fares will be allowed only in Dhaka, but we want half fares for students everywhere. They also said they will not accept half fares on holidays, but there are various schools and colleges that remain open even on Saturdays.”

Police confirmed that the students were protesting at the BRTA office, but the road was clearer than over the past several days.