Transport Minister Madan Mitra today decided to form a committee headed by department joint secretary Biswajit Dutta to decide on increasing auto fares in the city. The CITU-backed auto union decided to launch a protest against the government for not including their members in the committee. Subhas Mukherjee,a union member,said they would protest the governments decision not to include members of other trade unions in the committee,except INTTUC state president Dola Sen. Most of the committee members were from the Trinamool Congress,Mukherjee alleged. He said that most of their members were not allowed to enter Khudiram Anushilan Kendra,where the transport minister today convened a meeting with transport unions and officials of the state transport department. The minister had recently said that all trade unions would be taken into consideration while drafting policies,but CITU members claimed they were not even informed about the meeting. It was decided that instead of the trade unions,the state government would decide on increasing auto fares. Today it was also decided that no new permit will be given to autos and no new autos can be purchased till further orders. The new committee will decide on increase in fares and submit a report to the government within 72 hours. It will also decide whether the VAT of LPG gas will be reduced . The department is also planning to provide high security registration number plates to all autos so that they cannot be tampered with.
