Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah to turn into a bus conductor on June 11

Siddaramaiah will board a BMTC bus at around 11am on Sunday from Majestic bus station and issue ‘pink tickets’ to women in the bus.

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah is all set to step into a bus conductor's role on June 11 and issue free tickets to women passengers, as the state government is going to launch ‘Shakti scheme’ on Sunday. It is one of the Congress’ five poll guarantees it promised before the assembly elections.

Congress leader Siddaramaiah.

According to Karnataka’s chief minister’s office, Siddaramaiah will board a Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus at around 11am on Sunday from Majestic bus station and issue ‘pink tickets’ to women in the bus. He will head to Vidhana Soudha in BMTC bus which is roughly four kilometers from the Majestic bus station.

Siddaramaiah also directed all the ministers and MLAs to make sure that the Shakti scheme will reach to all the beneficiaries in the state, irrespective of caste, creed and any other differences. According to reports, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will also participate in the grand launch of Shakti scheme by the Karnataka government.

Meanwhile,the Karnataka government has already advised the women to apply for Shakti smart cards to avail the free travel in state run buses, starting from June 11. Until then, women who would like avail the free travel benefit must carry a government photo ID card with their residential address on it. It is compulsory for women to carry the Shakti smart card, after three months from June 11. The scheme applies for all women in Karnataka, including the transgender community.