Will review 'Shakti scheme' as women prefer to pay for bus ride, says Karnataka Deputy CM

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Wednesday said the government will review the Shakti scheme after several women commuters have expressed their wish to pay for their bus tickets.

After flagging off new Airavata club class 2.0 buses of the state-owned Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), Shivakumar said, “Many women have been communicating to us through social media and emails that they would like to pay for their tickets. We will discuss this.” Shakti scheme is one of the five pre-poll guarantees of the Congress government. It offers free ride to women in non-luxury buses across Karnataka. It was launched on June 11, 2023 within a month of Congress coming to power.

As on October 18, 2024, the state spent Rs 7,507.35 crore on the Shakti scheme for the 311.07 crore free rides by the women.

Explaining further, he said, “About 5 to 10 per cent women say that the conductors are not taking money for the tickets even when they volunteer. I will soon hold a meeting with Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy and discuss this.” The Deputy CM said the KSRTC has made a name for itself in the country. It has received 112 national and international awards in the last year.

He hailed the KSRTC employees for their hard work in achieving the feat.

“When KSRTC started, it had 120 buses. Today, it has 24,282 busses. After we came to power, we announced a plan to purchase 6,200 buses and we have purchased 3,400 buses till now. We have also initiated recruitment of 9,000 drivers and conductors,” he added.

About 1,000 people were given jobs on compassionate grounds, Shivakumar noted.

“The families of employees who are killed in accidents are given Rs one crore compensation. We have the best system in the whole country.” Underlining that the KSRTC is a not-for-profit firm only to serve the people, Shivakumar said, “Private players have come forward to provide fuel to KSRTC at a cheaper than market rate. We will discuss with all stakeholders and proceed on this.”