While launching a new free bus service scheme for women in Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday said that earlier 30 per cent of women used to take the bus to travel which came down to 24 per cent during the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regime because "the BJP didn’t want women to come out of their houses". Siddaramaiah along with Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy launched a free travel scheme for women in Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) under 'Shakti Yojana'.
The Congress rolled out the first of its five poll guarantees which were free travel for women in KSRTC and BMTC buses under the scheme.
"We are launching one of the five guarantees at Vidhana Soudha at 11 AM. All women will be entitled to travel within the state free of cost in all the (state-owned) buses other than AC and Volvo including express bus services," Siddaramaiah told reporters on Saturday, as per PTI.
In a video shared by ANI, the chief minister was seen distributing free passes to the women in the buses, and the women commuters thanked him.
The Transport Minister briefed people about the Shakti Yojana and said that smart cards for free bus travel would be granted after three months.
"Three months will be there to apply for the smart passes. Smart passes will not breach any privacy. People in rural areas can reach out to help centres for those who don’t have access to online mediums. The government is launching the Shakthi scheme today," he said.
Reddy also added that the aim of the Shakthi scheme was to prioritise the easy and safe travel of women commuters.
"The ease of travel for women is the priority," the Minister said
Karnataka Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa expressed his happiness on the launch of the Shakti Scheme and also stated that the Congress manifesto promised the provision of buses for the state's children and that more buses will be introduced.
"I have got 1.20 crore children up to 12th standard. I want them to avail of this service. In our manifesto, we had promised this. We will be adding more buses. Our target is 15,000 buses. We want them to avail all facilities," Bangarappa was quoted by ANI.
However, there have been mixed reactions from commuters in Bengaluru about the launch of the scheme while a majority of women have expressed their delight and that it will benefit everyone, others said that offering free bus travel would make people lazy.
"I do not need a free ride on a government bus. Now they have put some other conditions for it. I am against it," said a woman commuter, reported ANI.