Renuka Viswanathan, former principal adviser to the erstwhile Planning Commission, has written an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi advocating the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s proposed scheme of free rides on public transport, including the Delhi Metro, for women.
Ms. Vishwanathan’s letter came days after former Delhi Metro Rail Corporation chief E. Sreedharan wrote to the Prime Minister, requesting him not to agree to the proposal as it would set an “alarming precedent”.
In her letter, Ms. Viswanathan, who is also the former Secretary to the Centre in the Cabinet Secretariat and had contested the 2018 Karnataka Assembly election on an AAP ticket, said she was impressed by the Delhi government’s free ride proposal for its simplicity and administrative efficiency.
‘Little scope for misuse’
“No additional paper work or energy needs to be spent to identify women beneficiaries and there is very little scope for misuse of the scheme by ineligible persons... I trust that the Central Government will recognise and appreciate the many merits of this proposal and support it in all respects,” she stated in the letter.