NEW DELHI, Sept 1: Blueline buses have been allowed back on the Capital's roads because the arithmetic suits the government. The government stands to gain by issuing a six-month temporary permit to bus operators, as it will bring in at least Rs 25 lakh to the exchequer, say sources.There are 2,400 Bluelines currently off the roads. To resume operations, each owner has to pay Rs 500 for a temporary permit. Secondly, all bus operators under the km-scheme had paid Rs 10,000 as security deposit for each vehicle before they received the DTC permits. These bus owners also want to return to the Blueline scheme.As there are nearly 2,500 buses under the km scheme, the government has at least Rs 2.5 crore in its coffers. Refusal to renew or grant temporary permits to them would have meant returning the money.``The government is in no position to return that kind of money for a long time. Doing so before the elections is definitely out of question. So these buses will also be allowed to have their way,'' says a State Transport Authority (STA) official. When the government enforced the notification - nationalising all bus routes in the Capital - 1,376 were already under the km scheme run by DTC. Among these buses, 800 were new vehicles which were never under the Blueline scheme.Since June 15, an additional 1,000 buses have joined the km scheme. About 300 buses are brand new, while 600 are Bluelines which used to ply on permits transferred through power of attorney.So the total number of buses under the DTC-run km scheme on August 25, when the Delhi High Court quashed the June 15 notification, was approximately 2,500.The owners of the 2,400-odd buses which used to run under the Blueline scheme and remained off the roads after they refused to accept the notification, filed a petition against it before the High Court.In its order quashing the notification, the court had observed: ``The quashing of the notification does not take away the right of the government to frame the scheme afresh and approve and implement the same, but only on satisfying the requirements of sections 99 and 100 of the Motor Vehicles Act.''Says a senior transport ministry official: ``There is no time to frame a new scheme before the assembly elections. The BJP leadership has also told the government not to appeal before the Supreme Court or raise any fresh controversy. And the government is in no position to return the security deposits.''The government decided to grant temporary permits valid for six months and leave subsequent hassles to the new government. The security deposits will be transferred to the STA. ``It brings them money as well as appeases the bus operators,'' the official adds.By the STA's own admission about 60 per cent of Blueline permits were transferred through power of attorney. When the June-15 notification was effected, a majority of such permit holders opted for the DTC-run km scheme.``With illegal permits they did not have any other option. They at least managed to earn money during this period. Now they have got an opportunity to return to the old scheme with temporary permits,'' says an STA official, requesting anonymity.This morning, STA officials had to contend with angry bus operators who demanded temporary permits with immediate effect, in accordance with the Chief Minister Sahib Singh Verma's announcement yesterday.They also demanded that the government should compensate them for the quarterly road tax they submitted after June 15. One of them, P.K. Gehlot, says: ``I paid Rs 3,459 on August 13 for the July-September quarter, though my bus has been off the roads from June 15. Owners of the 2,400 buses, who were also not plying their vehicles during this period, paid taxes.''The arithmetic again worked well for the government, because it brought in Rs 81.6 lakh to the exchequer. Blueline bus operators have sensed that the government mixes its politics and arithmetic very well. ``We have seen through their game. Therefore, we demand STA permits valid for the next five years. Blueline owners who were forced to join the km scheme should be allowed to rejoin the old scheme. Otherwise, we should get our money back,'' says STA Bus Nyay Panchayat president Ramesh Dalal.
