Women in Delhi to get free rides on public buses from today

Mangalore Today News Network / Yahoo

New Delhi, Oct 29 2019: Women in Delhi will get free rides in public buses from Tuesday, 29 October, as the AAP government is all set to fulfil its promise months ahead of the Assembly polls in the national capital. Delhi is scheduled to go to polls in early 2020.There are around 3,700 DTC buses and 1,800 buses under the cluster scheme of the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS).

‘Historic Day for Delhi’

Tweeting the notification of implementing the free-ride scheme, transport minister Kailash Gahlot said that it was a historic day for Delhi.
CM Kejriwal also tweeted on Tuesday, calling it a historic step for women safety and empowerment”.

According to Gahlot, 30 percent of travellers in DTC and cluster buses are women.

The facility will also be available in the Noida-NCR service, airport and other special services operated by the DTC and cluster scheme operators, according to PTI.

Grant of Rs 150 Crore for Scheme

On 29 August, the Delhi Cabinet had given in-principle approval to the scheme of providing free bus rides to women, but put a rider on female employees of the city government that they have to give up their transport allowance to avail of the facility, PTI reported.

According to the government, women employees of the Delhi government, local bodies and undertakings will not be entitled for transport allowance if they opt for free ride in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and cluster buses.

The public buses in Delhi carry over 45 lakh passengers each day, according to latest official figures.

The Delhi Assembly has also approved a grant of Rs 150 crore for implementation of the scheme in metro.

Both DTC and DIMTS will strengthen their ticket-checking mechanisms to prevent "misuse" and "pilferage" of single-journey passes, officials said, according to PTI.

After it was announced in June by Kejriwal, BJP’s city unit chief Manoj Tiwari had said the chief minister was making such announcements because he was fast losing ground in Delhi.

Number of Marshals in Delhi Buses to Increase to 13,000

CM Kejriwal on Monday said the number of marshals deployed for Delhi buses will rise to nearly 13,000 from Tuesday.

"Today, I am entrusting you all with a responsibility to ensure safety of women in each government bus and generate confidence in them so that they feel the comfort of a home in our buses," Kejriwal told a gathering of newly-recruited bus marshals at the Tyagraj Stadium in New Delhi.
Kejriwal said the current strength of bus marshals in Delhi is 3,400.