After the launch of the Shakti scheme for free bus travel for women by the Congress government in Karnataka, state-owned buses are seeing women passengers turning out in great numbers, an official statement said on Tuesday, June 13. A Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) statement said that from midnight on June 12 to 12 pm the next day, 41.34 lakh women passengers travelled in government-owned buses across the state. The cost incurred by the government was Rs 8.83 crore, it said.
As many as 17.57 lakh women travelled in Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses in and around the state capital, while 11.40 lakh women travelled in KSRTC, 8.30 lakh women in North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) and 4.40 lakh in Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KKRTC). The data of bus schedules which are returning to the depot after midnight are not included in the above data.
On June 11, the day the Shakti scheme was launched, between 1 pm and midnight, 5.71 lakh women passengers availed the scheme by travelling free and the cost incurred was Rs 1.40 crore.
The KSRTC has also mandated the drivers and conductors to initiate precautionary measures at all buses to ensure safety of passengers, especially students, by ensuring the closure of doors of the bus while travelling. The direction is given against the backdrop of the death of a school student in Haveri district while travelling on the footboard of the overcrowded bus.