Congress govt in Karnataka rolls out first poll guarantee with launch of free bus rides for women

BENGALURU: With the roll out of the first of the ruling Congress' five election guarantees, the "Shakti" scheme, women in Karnataka will be able to ride government buses for free starting Sunday.
Chief minister Siddaramaiah said that the Shakti scheme would help empower women and boost their representation in public life.

He claimed, only 24 per cent of people in India today identify as female, down from 30 per cent in 2014.
The country not only lagged behind countries like the US and Australia but also Bangladesh which has 38 per cent in this regard, the chief minister said.

“This has to increase. Unless women's representation increases, the country cannot progress and this (Shakti) is a means to empower women,” he said, launching the first of the five guarantees promised by the party on the Grand Steps of Vidhana Soudha on Sunday.
The scheme allows cisgender and transgender women across age and economic strata to travel in government buses for free within Karnataka. Limitations are set on the kind of buses that are disallowed.
"Women and transgenders irrespective of caste, religion and age — the scheme covers students — are eligible for the free bus travel," he said.
As per KSRTC, daily women passengers in city, ordinary, and express buses, and those possessing passes amount to 41.81 lakh per day. As many as 5,102 of the 5,548 BMTC buses and 6239 out of 7482 KSRTC buses will have this facility for women, besides 3892 NWKRTC and 3376 KKRTC buses.
Hitting back at the opposition for criticising the budgetary aspects, he said, "We are not putting money into the pockets of the rich, but the poor. In fact, four of the five guarantees are going to help women -- Anna Bhagya, Gruha Jyoti, Gruha Laxmi and Shakti Yojane”.
Also chiding critics for the power tariff hike, he iterated that the decision was taken by the previous government, which barely fulfilled 10 per cent of their 600 promises during their tenure.
Those who criticise the scheme for 10kg rice, do not know hunger, he added.
Deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar deemed this initiative as a way to uphold the culture of India, where the celebration of Ganesh festival is preceded by Gauri festival, where you prefix Laxmi to Venkateshwar, and Parvathi to Parameshwar, and lands are identified by the grama devathe (female deity).
He also criticised the previous government for not paying dues to a state transport corporation after using their services for an event.
He also said that the state government would pay the state-run RTC's for the tickets issued to women.
Transport minister Ramalinga Reddy said that 50 per cent of the 6.5 crore people in the state are women and 90 per cent of those using buses are being benefited by the scheme.
Local MP Rizwan Arshad said it was not a free bus ticket but an initiative to fill shakti (courage) in women.