Karnataka announces free bus travel for women from June 1

There couldn't have been news better than this today for Karnataka! The government of Karnataka has announced free bus travel for women in the state in all their government-run buses. So from June 1, women in Karnataka would be able to travel for free in the buses. As per transport officials, over 40 lakh women travel in buses daily in Karnataka. So this indeed is good news for Karnataka women!

On May 30, the transport minister met officials of the four State-run road transport corporations, which are Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC), Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), and Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KKRTC).
Ramalinga Reddy, Karnataka Transport Minister, made the announcement on Tuesday. The minister said, “I want to make it clear that all women can travel for free in government buses.” He further said that the details of the scheme will be submitted to the CM Siddaramaiah by the principal secretary of the transport department.

Greenpeace India, an environmental group, also had written to Karnataka CM, asking him to make bus travel more accessible, safe and effective for women passengers. They had asked to increase the number of BMTC buses to 14000 along with establishing 11 bus lanes in Bengaluru.
“The report will detail information on how many women are expected to benefit from this, terms and conditions, the burden on the exchequer, the financial status of all the four transport corporations, among others,” the minister stated further.