On June 11, the newly elected Congress government in Karnataka launched the Shakti Scheme, the first among its five pre-poll guarantees. Hailed as Congress’s plan to boost women empowerment, Shakti Scheme aims to provide free travel to state-domicile women in non-premium services of State-run buses across Karnataka.
During the Launch program, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah compared women’s participation in developed countries and India and said, “Women’s participation is about 53% in America, 54% in China, 57% in Australia, 57% in Indonesia. In Bangladesh, it amounts to 30% whereas in India it amounts to just 24%. Thus, the congress government’s Shakti Scheme would increase women’s work participation and promote state public transportation”.
According to the data of the transportation department, an overwhelming response has been noted as over 3.12 crore women availed public transportation facilities within a week of the scheme’s launch.
How many female passengers benefited from Shakti Scheme?
Starting Sunday, June 11, 5.71 lakh female passengers travelled free in RTC buses and the total cost to the state exchequer was over Rs 1.40 Crore.
While on the next day, some 41.34 lakh women passengers availed the travel benefit which cost the state exchequer Rs 8.84 crore.
The Transport Department’s maximum estimate of free ridership for a day under the Shakti scheme was breached on June 13, as figures soared with 51.52 Lakh women passengers availing the facility that cost Rs 10.82 crore to the state exchequer.
By June 17, the distribution of zero-value tickets reached an impressive 54.30 women, amounting to Rs 12.89 crore.
Throughout the week, over 3.12 crore women travelled on government buses across the state under the Shakti scheme, for which the Karnataka govt spent Rs 70.28 crore.
The scheme seems to have benefited more working-class women who have enthusiastically embraced the opportunity.
How will RTCs reimburse the cost?
The government has directed the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (RTCs) to submit the data every month. Accordingly, the government will reimburse the subsidy provided for bus passes, apart from special grants and financial assistance.
Meanwhile, many urban female passengers have raised the concern that using Shakti smart cards to track how far the passenger has travelled would amount to a breach of privacy.
However, with the rise in female passengers, there has been a call to increase the number of government buses and KSRTC crews to accommodate the growing influx of passengers across Karnataka.
Locals say that some routes have become so congested that passengers were unable to board the buses due to a lack of enough vehicles.
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