Karnataka's free bus travel for women has crossed 100 crore rides. The state government had on June 11 launched the 'Shakti' scheme as one of the five poll guarantees of the Congress party.
Statistics from four state-run Road Transport Corporations (RTCs) reveal that 1,004,756,184 rides were taken by women passengers between June 11 and November 22.
Women constituted 56.2 percent of the total 178.6 crore passengers since June 11, including four RTCs in Karnataka: Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC), and Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KKRTC).
Also read: Free bus travel for women: Karnataka needs to quickly add buses to cater to the spike in demand
The highest number of women passengers travelled on BMTC buses (32.69 crore), followed by KSRTC (30.12 crore), NWKRTC (23.37 crore), and KKRTC (14.28 crore) during this period.
The total value of tickets issued under the Shakti scheme amounted to Rs 2,397 crore during this period. KSRTC, which primarily operates on long-distance routes, issued tickets worth Rs 900.2 crore, followed by NWKRTC (Rs 600.6 crore), KKRTC (Rs 475.9 crore), and BMTC (Rs 420.8 crore). The lower value of tickets under the Shakti scheme in BMTC is due to women undertaking short trips in Bengaluru.
On November 22, four RTCs recorded daily women passengers of 66 lakh, including BMTC (20.8 lakh), KSRTC (20.2 lakh), NWKRTC (15.12 lakh), and KKRTC (9.8 lakh) during this period. Prior to the scheme, daily women ridership was 41.81 lakh, including BMTC (10.86 lakh), KSRTC (14.43 lakh), NWKRTC (9.12 lakh), and KKRTC (7.41 lakh).
On November 22, a total of 1.12 crore passengers travelled in the four RTCs, with 66 lakh of them being women (58.5 percent).
Transport department officials said the Shakti scheme received an overwhelming response and also boosted religious tourism in the state, increasing the spending power of women and enabling them to go to work. "This is one of the biggest women empowerment schemes, and we will celebrate the 100-crore women rides milestone in Vidhana Soudha at 12 noon on November 24," said a senior transport department official.
Karnataka transport minister Ramalinga Reddy told Moneycontrol that Shakti is one of the most successful schemes of the Congress-led government. "Every day, four RTCs undertake 1.68 lakh trips, ferrying 1.10 crore passengers. Initially, there were some teething problems, but now we have resolved such issues. Women are utilizing the Shakti scheme to commute to work, visit relatives, family members, religious, and tourist places. When they travel, they are not alone; they take their family members along, so the overall ridership of RTCs is also increasing."
While the ridership of four RTCs has increased, there is a demand for more buses with complaints of buses running overcrowded. Private bus operators and auto-rickshaws are also complaining that the Shakti scheme has affected their earnings.
In the 2023-24 budget, the state government allocated Rs 2,800 crore to the Shakti scheme. The Karnataka government reimburses the cost to RTCs based on the number of 'zero tickets' issued to commuters every month.
The scheme allows women domiciled in Karnataka to travel for free on non-premium buses plying within the state. The government allows women passengers to produce their local IDs to avail of the scheme.
The state is also planning to issue smart cards to women passengers under the Shakti scheme. While launching the scheme on June 11, the government said smart cards would be issued in three months, but the deadline was extended to December 2023.
The minister said that the government is now reimbursing 70% of the expenses of RTCs for the Shakti scheme on a monthly basis. "The remaining amount will be issued from next year. We will soon issue Shakti passes for women passengers. Currently, they can show any local ID to avail free bus travel in non-AC buses." said Reddy.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on October 21 unveiled a plan to procure a total of 5,675 buses for the four RTCs in the state. Out of these, 3,404 are diesel, and 2,271 are electric.
Also read: Bengaluru to get 2,211 buses by March 2024, govt sets recruitment conditions
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