Metro Man Sreedharan Calls Free Ridership Election Gimmick; AAP Says BJP Using Him

In a letter addressed to Sisodia on Thursday and made public on Friday, the 'Metro Man' stressed that the free-ride scheme will have financial implications to the detriment of DMRC's health.

The 87-year-old, who is now associated with the DMRC as its Principal Adviser, refuted the Delhi government claim that Delhi Metro is only utilizing 65 per cent of its capacity and pointed at overcrowding of metros in peak hours.(Photo by PRAKASH SINGH / AFP)

New Delhi: Days after writing to the Prime Minister, former Managing Director of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) E. Sreedharan wrote to Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia against the free ridership scheme of the AAP government, terming it as an "election gimmick." The AAP later accused him of allowing himself to be used by the BJP. In a letter addressed to Sisodia on Thursday and made public on Friday, the 'Metro Man' stressed that the free-ride scheme will have financial implications to the detriment of DMRC's health. He also accused the party of playing the populist card to win women's votes in the upcoming assembly election in the state. "I am not opposing Delhi government's proposal to bear the cost of free travel for women but objecting only to the concept of free travel in metro. If we allow free travel for women, what about more deserving categories such as students, disabled persons, senior citizens etc?" Sreedharan asked in his letter. "No metro in the world has extended free travel facility to women exclusively. If the Delhi government is so concerned about women, my suggestion is to reimburse their cost of travel directly to them rather than allowing free travel in metro," Sreedharan wrote. "Please remember any compensation Delhi govt. pays to DMRC is tax payers' money and tax payer has a right to question why only women are being given free travel. Everybody knows this is an election gimmick to win votes of women in the next assembly election," he added. The 87-year-old, who is now associated with the DMRC as its Principal Adviser, refuted the Delhi government claim that Delhi Metro is only utilizing 65 per cent of its capacity and pointed at overcrowding of metros in peak hours. He said the crowding problem will only worsen if the free-travel scheme goes through. He also accused the Delhi government of being disingenuous in its concern about the safety of women, saying that it threw the spanner in the construction plans for the fourth phase expansion and did not introduce 'link bus service' for last-mile connectivity. His response was to a letter written by Sisodia earlier this week where the Deputy Chief Minister had answered the concerns raised by the 'Metro Man'. Addressing a press conference on Friday, AAP leader and spokesperson Aatishi termed Sreedharan's arguments as "purely political". "The entire country respects Sreedharan and his work. Therefore it came as a shock to us that a renowned policymaker and technocrat has chosen to write a purely political letter to oppose such a fantastic scheme. It is painful to watch Sreedharan being used by the Bharatiya Janata Party to further its own political agenda. The BJP is firing from Sreedharan's shoulder," Aatishi told the media. She said Sreedharan is using the same language which BJP wants to use. The AAP leader also questioned the silence of Sreedharan on several occasions when there were legitimate threats to the Delhi Metro's revenues and financial health. "Why was he silent when the Centre proposed a cross subsidy model last year for giving concessions to certain sections? The Centre was not even funding that scheme, instead it was transferring the burden to the DMRC. But there was no intervention by Sreedharan." She also said that the Delhi government had unearthed serious irregularities in the Airport Metro line project, which was undertaken when Sreedharan was in charge of the Delhi Metro. "I don't recall him ever raising his voice on these irregularities that were damaging the Metro. We had asked for a CBI enquiry into this as well, but the BJP government at the Centre wants to protect those involved and did not take any action. Why is Sreedharan allowing himself to be used by the BJP?" Atishi asked. Atishi also wrote a letter to him on the same. The Delhi government had announced that it is planning to make the Delhi Metro and DTC rides free for women in the city. The proposal, costing about Rs 700-800 crore, is likely to start in 2-3 months.