Former Union Health & Family Welfare Minister and Dharmapuri M.P. Anbumani has said that corruption has caused losses to the State Road Transport Corporation (SRTC) forcing the Govt. to announce last week’s steep hike in bus fares.

Anbumani, who is also the president of the youth wing of Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), spoke to newsmen in Chennai this morning when he shared the above observation. “Losses might have occurred due to mismanagement or corruption in recruiting staff members by taking huge money for making such recruitments,” Anbumani said while holding protest with his party cadres against the hike in bus fares.

PMK cadres held protests and demonstrations outside all District headquarters. Thousands of cadres had thronged the Chennai Collectorate near the ever-busy Parry’s Corner in Chennai where Anbumani was heading the protest.

“When private tour operators can run their business successful, I can’t decipher what could possibly ail the SRTC run by the Government. Rampant corruption has taken place in the past in recruiting staff members during the AIADMK and the DMK regimes,” he alleged.

PMK’s founder-president Ramadoss headed the protest at Villupuram while senior party leader G.K. Mani was at the forefront of the protest by party cadres at Tindivanam.