The strength of state run KSRTC buses is very low in Udupi district and efforts will be made to increase their numbers by drawing the attention of the government to this issue, said Lakshmi Hebbalkar, Minister of Women and Child Development, and Disabled and Senior Citizens Empowerment.
Speaking after launching the ‘Shakti’ scheme, facilitating free travel for women in state-owned buses, Hebbalkar, who is also the Udupi district minister, said that increasing the number of KSRTC buses in Udupi will help women derive full benefit of the government’s mobility scheme for women. Hebbalkar also noted that there is a demand for re-starting the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) bus services and increasing their services, which will be looked into.
Earlier launching the guarantee scheme at Udupi Bus Stand, which offers free travel for women in state road transport corporation buses, the minister said it would help empower women to uphold their dignity and become self-reliant. .
The scheme is one of the five guarantees promised by Congress ahead of the state assembly elections.
She said there are more than 20,000 government buses and women would get to travel in 18,609 of them for free. This accounts for 95% of the buses and would help 41.8 lakh women, students and the transgender community. The scheme would cost the exchequer INR 4051 crore annually.
Hebbalkar assured that all the guarantee schemes will be fulfilled in stages and the Gruha Laxmi scheme, poll guarantee of INR 2,000 per woman head of the family, would be launched on August 15. All women in the BPL and APL categories can derive benefit of the scheme, she said adding the application format would be released online and other modes (through PDOs, Grama One) in another two days.
Hebbalkar, after greenlighting the scheme, travelled along with the passengers, gave tickets and roses to women passengers. Udupi MLA Yashpal Suvarna presided over the programme.
