From five lakh to 41 lakh, free bus scheme sees massive spike

Under the scheme, the ticket value of women passengers travelling in the bus would be reimbursed by the Karnataka government.

Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah with his deputy D K Shivakumar during the launch of the Shakti Yojane, in Bengaluru, Sunday.

Shakti Yojane or the free bus scheme launched by the Karnataka government witnessed a massive spike in the number of women passengers taking the buses on Monday, recording an increase to 41 lakh. The data was released by the transport department between the timeline from 12 am to 12 pm.

The project was launched on Sunday, with over 5.7 lakh women passengers availing the free travel scheme from 1 pm to 12 am. All four transport corporations incurred a cost of Rs 1.4 crore. However, on Monday the number rose to over 41 lakh, costing the transport corporations a whopping Rs 8.8 crore in a day. The highest cost was incurred by KSRTC which was recorded at Rs 3.5 crore.

The data released by the transport department also showed that over 17 lakh women passengers travelled in BMTC on Monday with the ticket value of the passengers recorded at Rs 1.7 crore. Over 8.3 lakh passengers travelled in NWKRTC incurring a cost of Rs 2.1 crore and over 4 lakh passengers took KKRTC, incurring a cost of Rs 1.3 crore.

Under the scheme, the ticket value of women passengers travelling in the bus would be reimbursed by the Karnataka government. As part of the scheme, the transport department is now issuing ‘zero sum tickets’ to women passengers upon producing their Govt ID proof (Aadhar card). The transport department also clarified that a zero sum ticket to a woman will be issued upon showing a photocopy of the Aadhar card.

The government has also stated that Shakti smart cards will be issued within three months after receiving and reviewing applications for the scheme through the Seva Sindu portal. Until the smart cards are issued, the government will distribute zero sum tickets

Shakti yojane was one of the five guarantees announced by the ruling Congress. According to the government, the free bus scheme is expected to cover 50% of the population in Karnataka and 94% of the government bus services. The scheme does not apply to A/c and luxury buses and is confined to travel journeys only within Karnataka. Bus categories like sleeper, Vajra, Vayuvajra, Airavat, Airavat Club Class, Airavat Gold Class, Ambari, Ambari Utsav, Rajahamsa, EV Power Plus will not fall under the free bus service scheme for women.