In a bid to persuade the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) authorities to grant him bus passes, a diploma student of the University of Mysore launched an indefinite hunger strike on Tuesday, March 7. 

The daily commute from his home in Kalkuni village in Hunsur taluk of Mysuru to his college, the Centre for Information Science and Technology (CIST) at the University of Mysore is 45 km for Kumar C, a student of Diploma in Multimedia Technology. He enrolled in the one-year diploma course this academic year and also applied for the student bus pass. However, to his anguish, his application was rejected by the KSRTC. 

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Speaking to The New Indian Express, Kumar said, "Every day I travel from Hunsur to Mysuru to pursue education. It is very difficult for me to pay money to buy bus tickets every day. So I applied for the student pass which was rejected by the KSRTC officers. Now I am finding it difficult to continue my education. So I decided to hold a hunger protest demanding bus passes, against the KSRTC authorities for their inhuman behaviour."

The student has also submitted a memorandum of his demands to Karnataka's Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai through the District Commissioner and has sought justice. 

As part of the Budget this year, the Bommai government announced a free bus pass facility for girl students in all schools and colleges under the Vidhya Vahini scheme at a cost of Rs 350 crore.