The Karnataka government on Thursday announced its decision to procure 4,000 new buses and recruit 13,000 officials - including drivers, conductors and mechanics - in the transport department after seeing increased demand following the implementation of the ‘Shakti’ scheme, which provides free travel on all government-owned buses to women across the southern state. The scheme was a part of the Congress party's election manifesto and was launched last month.
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Chief minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said, “The KSRTC’s ‘income’ has increased ever since the ‘Shakti’ scheme offering free travel to Karnataka women in non-luxury government buses started on June 11. The state government will bear the expenditure met by the KSRTC on Shakti scheme. ₹2,900 crore will be needed for the scheme in the next nine months, which we will give.”
"We are going to recruit 13,000 drivers, conductors and mechanics in the KSRTC. We will purchase 4,000 new buses so that students and men are not affected by the Shakti scheme," he added in the Assembly.
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{{/usCountry}}Saying that more than 18 crore women have travelled in the state under the scheme till July 12, he stated, “Women are happy. 18 crore women have travelled. Is it not empowering women? The money is saved. Now women are travelling to temples and to their parents’ house.”
The decision to buy new buses and recruit more staff comes in the midst of a call from experts for the government to improve public transport and mass transit systems. While the KSRTC will soon be getting more hands to work with, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) still faces a severe staff crunch.
Hindustan Times had reported in September that over 1,000 buses are lying idle - leaving commuters irritated - because there is nobody to drive them. The BMTC has around 6,771 buses but is operating only 5,660 at this moment. The Karnataka capital actually needs around 12,000 buses on its streets to provide effective mass public transport.
(With PTI inputs)