The scheme offering free rides for women and transgender persons in Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses, a key promise of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) and a first such proposal in the state, rolled out on Monday with Chief Minister VD Satheesan underlining that it would have a profound effect on the social and financial conditions of lakhs of working women.
Named ‘Priyadarsini’, after former prime minister Indira Gandhi, the scheme in its current pilot stage offers women and transgender persons free rides in the KSRTC’s ‘ordinary’ class of buses. Such buses, numbering around 3,100 across the state, ply on short-distance routes within major cities or between towns.
One of the five ‘Indira guarantees’ of the UDF, the flagship project was inaugurated by CM Satheesan in Thiruvananthapuram. He, along with transport minister CP John and ministers Bindhu Krishna and KA Thulasi, boarded a KSRTC bus under the scheme and travelled from Thampanoor to the Secretariat. Both the driver and conductor were women.
Parallel flag-offs of the scheme took place across all 14 districts, led by UDF ministers and MLAs. While the Left parties CPI(M) and CPI stayed away from the inauguration, BJP activists later staged demonstrations, alleging that the UDF had failed to fulfil its pre-poll promise of extending the scheme to all classes of KSRTC buses.
The chief minister pointed out that a key pre-poll promise of the UDF was being implemented before the government completed a month in office.
“This proposal is a mark of our respect and admiration towards women. It will have a major effect on the financial and social spheres of our society. Lakhs of women from simple backgrounds depend on KSRTC buses. They include fishworkers, hardworking women employed as domestic labourers in homes and apartments, students, employees and members of the general public going to banks and hospitals. This scheme is for them,” said Satheesan.
The chief minister said the state government would spend ₹800 crore annually to fund the scheme and that the financial burden would not fall on the cash-strapped KSRTC.
“I have high hopes in the transport minister and the team he leads. I’m sure that KSRTC would soon tell the government that they would not need the financial assistance to run the scheme,” he said.
The CM remarked that the money women save through free KSRTC rides would circulate within the state economy and benefit the larger public.
“The transport sector is in a crisis today. The State government has studied it very well. Those in the private transport sector, especially bus owners, should not be concerned. They must remember that they are also part of the larger public transport sector,” he said.
The BJP, dissatisfied with the state government’s decision to limit the benefits to the ordinary class of KSRTC buses, demanded that the project be implemented across all categories of buses.
“During the election campaign, the UDF promised women of Kerala free rides in all KSRTC buses. But after coming to power, the UDF has failed in sticking to its word. Women expected free rides in all buses and they are currently confused about the class of buses in which they can travel without money,” said BJP general secretary S Suresh.
However, BJP MP and Union minister Suresh Gopi endorsed the scheme and said women who can afford bus tickets should voluntarily forgo the benefit to help sustain it.
“If economically secure women decide not to claim the concession, it would enable the government to extend greater support to deserving beneficiaries,” he said.
