Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Jun 13: The Karnataka government's flagship Shakti scheme, one of the five key guarantees announced by the ruling Congress government, has completed two years. Since its launch on June 11, 2023, the scheme has enabled 474.82 crore free bus journeys for women across the state, with the government compensating transport corporations through tickets worth over Rs 11,994 crore.
Introduced as the first guarantee scheme after Congress came to power, Shakti has received an overwhelming response from the public. According to transport corporation officials, the scheme has significantly increased the number of women passengers and even contributed to a rise in male passengers.
The initiative has caught the attention of other states as well, with officials from Andhra Pradesh visiting Karnataka to study the implementation, challenges, and operations of the scheme.
The Shakti scheme has also positively impacted religious tourism, increasing the number of visitors to pilgrimage sites and benefiting the tourism sector overall. The government has announced that the scheme will continue.
During the two-year period since the launch of the Shakti scheme, a total of 4.74 billion (474.82 crore) free journeys were undertaken by women in Karnataka. On average, 65 lac women availed this facility each day. The total value of tickets issued under the scheme amounts to Rs 11,994.37 crore, with a daily average of Rs 16.5 crore. These ticket values are being reimbursed to the state’s four transport corporations by the government.
Among the four state-run transport corporations, BMTC (Bengaluru) accounted for the highest number of women passengers with 150 crore journeys. It was followed by KSRTC (state-wide) with 144 crore, NWKRTC (Northwest Karnataka) with 111 crore, and KKRTC (Kalyana Karnataka) with 68 crore women passengers over the two years.
The state government has reimbursed the corporations as follows: KSRTC received Rs 4,556 crore, NWKRTC received Rs 2,968 crore, KKRTC was paid Rs 2,408 crore, and BMTC was reimbursed Rs 2,061 crore for the free services provided under the Shakti scheme.
In total, including male passengers, the four corporations recorded 801.54 crore journeys during the two-year period.
Although the state had announced the issuance of Shakti Smart Cards for women, these are yet to be distributed. Currently, women continue to use their Aadhaar cards to avail the free travel facility.
The success of the Shakti scheme reflects a significant stride in women’s mobility and empowerment while also boosting public transport usage state-wide.