Women on Bengaluru bus
Women on Bengaluru bus
Karnataka

Karnataka's free bus travel for women sparks online debate, sexist comments

This is even as nearly 1 crore women in the state travelled for free in state government buses.
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The launch of the Shakti scheme for free bus travel for women by the Congress government in Karnataka has sparked a furious debate online with a slew of sexist tweets targeting well-to-do women who chose to travel by buses. The scheme was started on June 11 and in its first week, nearly 1 crore women travelled for free in state government buses.

A Twitter user Joydeep Sen Sarma posted a photo of a woman holding up her free ticket in a BMTC bus. In the tweet, he made a pointed reference to her smart watch.

However, many others highlighted how women of different classes travelling together on buses is positive. "I see an upper middle class woman enjoying a bus ride instead of ordering a ride hailing cab service and thus limiting the number of cars on road. she is nothing but a hero in my book!," journalist Agnee Ghosh tweeted.

A few spoke about how a similar scheme implemented in Tamil Nadu by the DMK government had ensured that women were able to save money on a monthly basis. A survey done by the State Planning Commission in around four districts had shown that other than encouraging women from all strata of society to travel in buses, the scheme allowed women from low income families to save anything between Rs 700 to rupees 1,200 per month.

Others pointed out how subsidising transport is also linked to battling climate change."And this is how subsidised public transport is linked with battling climate change/car pollution. Nothing can be better than elites/middle class leave their car behind and hop on a bus. Hope more cities follow the same," Twitter user Adil Hossain tweeted.

The discourse about women traveling on buses for free has also seen women politicians supporting the initiative targeted by news channels. Asianet Suvarna published an article highlighting sexist comments made against Congress spokesperson Lavanya Ballal. 

The ridership on Karnataka's four RTCs vaulted by 28% to 1.05 cr from an average daily of 82.51 lakh on Monday, the first day of the scheme. Since then, 98 lakh women have availed the benefits of the free bus ride scheme in the state. 

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