No conditions set for women’s free travel in govt buses, says Minister Ramalinga Reddy

Bengaluru: Karnataka Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy on Tuesday reiterated that the bus travel for women will be free and there will be no conditions attached. With people curious and anxious to see the five guarantees implemented in the state, which according to the ruling Congress’ estimate may cost the state exchequer at least Rs 50,000 crore annually, the Transport Minister said the free bus ride for women will not have any guidelines.

“We don’t have any guidelines. We have said it’s free (bus travel) for women. There are no criteria like working women or anyone else. It will be free for women who travel by the bus,” the Minister told reporters during a press conference.

When it was brought to his notice that there are 3.5 crore women in the state, Reddy said, “Their travel will be free if they all opt for bus.” When reporters repeatedly asked whether it will be free travel for women in all government buses, he said, “The final decision will be taken by the Cabinet. Our party has announced free bus travel for all women.” The Minister said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had sought details about the expenditure.

Accordingly, the Principal Secretary of the Transport Department gathered all the information and shared it with the government. There are four state-owned transport corporations in Karnataka.

They are Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation, North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation and Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation. According to the details shared by Reddy, the cost of operations of four state-owned transport corporations during 2022-23 was Rs 12,750.49 crore. The traffic and other revenue details in the last fiscal was Rs 8,946.85 crore.