• Shakti smart cards’ to be available for travel in 3 months; until then women can use any Government photo ID card
• Women can travel across State only in buses sporting ‘Free travel for women’ stickers on windscreens

Bengaluru/Mysuru: From 1 pm today, women, irrespective of their age, from Karnataka can travel for free on Government buses other than AC, electric and Volvo bus services across the State as the State Government rolled out the first of its five poll guarantees.

The main inauguration of the ‘Shakti Scheme’ was held this afternoon at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru where Chief Minister Siddharamaiah released the poster of the scheme, written in Kannada along with his deputy D.K. Shivakumar and Cabinet colleagues R. Ramalinga Reddy and K.J. George. Free bus ride will also apply to border destinations within 20 km of Karnataka, called enclave routes, that covers a few border areas in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. In Mysuru, the H.D. Kote-Bavali route is considered as an enclave route where there is free travel now.

Authorities will paste ‘Free travel for women’ stickers on the windscreens of the city, ordinary and express buses run by the State’s four Road Transport Corporations (KSRTC, BMTC, NWKRTC and KKRTC).

Free travel will apply only to buses that carry these stickers. If a bus doesn’t have this sticker, women passengers will have to pay. Stickers will carry ‘Shakti’ scheme logo, which will not cover luxury and inter-State buses.

In Mysuru, District Minister Dr. H.C. Mahadevappa launched the scheme at Sub-Urban Bus Stand. MLAs Tanveer Sait and K. Harishgowda, MLCs Marithibbegowda, C.N. Manjegowda, Dr. D. Thimmaiah and A.H. Vishwanath, Deputy Commissioner Dr. K.V. Rajendra, Superintendent of Police Seema Latkar, City Police Commissioner Ramesh Banoth, KSRTC DC Marigowda and others were present.

As part of inauguration, two buses, one decorated green bus to H.D. Kote and one decked up red bus to Hassan were flagged off.

Shakti smart cards

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy said, “Our priority is to make travel convenient for women across Karnataka. We will also increase bus services in those routes where shortage is observed or free from 1 pm today.”

The Minister also asked the women to apply for ‘Shakti smart cards’ in the next three months. Answering about the privacy breach, “We have designed these smart cards in a way that the data privacy will not be breached. The portal will be open for the next three months and I request women to apply for ‘Shakti smart cards’.”

Meanwhile, until the cards are issued, women who would like to 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.

The ‘Shakti’ scheme applies only on the ordinary State-run bus services of Karnataka. Airavat, Airavata Club Class, Airavata Gold Class, Ambari, Ambari Dream Class, Ambari Utsav, Fly Bus, Vayu Vajra, Vajra, Non-AC Sleeper, Rajahamsa and EV Power Plus AC buses are excluded in this scheme. The scheme doesn’t also apply to those buses which travel outside the State. 50 percent seats on KSRTC, NWKRTC and KKRTC’s ordinary and express buses will be reserved for men.

TICKETING MECHANISM

KSRTC conductors will begin issuing zero-value tickets through Electronic Ticketing Machines (ETMs). These tickets will be regular tickets and not the pink-coloured ones.

In the event of an ETM malfunction, women passengers will be provided with manual tickets. The ticket will include journey details such as the origin, destination, distance, fare, etc. However, the column indicating the amount collected from passengers will simply state ‘zero’. For women booking tickets in advance, a reservation fee of Rs. 20 will be applicable. Women passengers are required to carry a Government-issued ID card with a Karnataka address. Girl students can present their school or college ID as identification when purchasing tickets.

Mysuru Division incurs daily loss of Rs. 40.43 lakh

As per data released by KSRTC Mysuru Division, the Division operates 1,071 buses in 976 schedules and 7,911 trips. There are 4,600 employees and 890 buses operate from the Sub-Urban Bus Stand and the rest operate from the City Bus Stand.

Buses in Mysuru travel a daily distance of 1,14,000 kms, earning a revenue of Rs. 1,26,84,000. It incurs an expenditure of Rs. 1,67,28,000 to operate services and daily loss of Rs. 40,43,000 is accounted for. On an average, over 4 lakh passengers take KSRTC buses in Mysuru daily and 50 percent of them are women.