Students protest outside Delhi Metro headquarters against fare hike

New Delhi, Aug 26 (PTI) Students from various universities, led by the Students' Federation of India (SFI), staged a protest outside the DMRC headquarters on Tuesday, demanding immediate rollback of the recent metro fare hike, the student body said.

Grappling with financial stress due to COVID losses, loan repayments and upkeep costs, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) on Monday revised passenger fares after a gap of nearly eight years. The hike ranges from Rs 1 to Rs 4 depending on the distance travelled, officials said. Members of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) also joined the demonstration, saying the increase will hit students and working women the hardest as they rely on the metro for their daily commute. The protesters alleged that lakhs of students already spend over Rs 100 per day on travel, and the hike would add an additional burden of Rs 500–800 per month. "A major portion of the student community comes from middle-class and economically disadvantaged backgrounds. An increase of even ten rupees per trip means hundreds of rupees extra every month, forcing us to choose between travel and essential academic needs like books, photocopies and meals," said SFI Delhi State Committee member Sohan Kumar Yadav. SFI activist Abhinandana Pratyashi said the metro is considered a relatively safe mode of transport for women students, and the fare hike would compel many to look for cheaper but unsafe alternatives. Kavita Sharma, secretary of AIDWA Delhi, said, "For many women students and working women, the metro is the only safe and dependable means of reaching colleges, workplaces and homes. Making it unaffordable denies women their basic right to mobility and security." The SFI and AIDWA demanded that DMRC withdraw the fare hike immediately and urged both the BJP-led Centre and the Delhi government to introduce concessional metro passes for students. PTI MHS HIG HIG