Challenges to the Role of Private Participation in Public Transportation: A Case of Kerala’s Private Buses

The State of Kerala in 2012 through a notification stopped issuing new permits to inter-district buses in Kerala while exempting state run Kerala State Transport Corporation. This was the beginning of the government’s action against private operators as it eventually started taking up routes were private buses used to operate. Though a populist move, it is predicted to kill the private bus system in the state, one of the unique successful examples of private participation serving a public good in the country. The Author uses this scenario to analyse and illustrate how these interventions is going to affect the public transportation system of the country.