Govt buses will be free for all women in Karnataka: Minister

Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy on Tuesday pledged to fulfil the Congress's poll guarantee of free bus travel for all women. He said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah would make an announcement in that regard on June 1.

The Congress government will have to spend around Rs 4,700 crore annually to make bus travel free for all women in Karnataka.

Government buses ferry 82.51 lakh people, 40 lakh of them women, every day in the state. Daily ridership will likely rise by up to 10 per cent if travel becomes free for the latter.

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Addressing a crowded press conference at the KSRTC central office here, the eight-time MLA was at pains to dismiss suggestions that the newly elected government would struggle to fulfil the bus travel guarantee. He also disagreed that only women from BPL families would be covered.

"We stand by what we promised in the manifesto. We said all women could travel free on government buses. We will keep our word," he stated.

Reddy, however, kept mum when asked if the scheme covered all buses.

According to Reddy, the managing directors of four Road Transport Corporations (RTCs) in Karnataka had submitted a report about fulfilling the guarantee, including its financial implications. "They have given us three to four options. We will examine them and decide," he stated.

Reddy said Siddaramaiah would chair a meeting on Wednesday to sort out details of how the scheme would be implemented. A final announcement will be made at the Cabinet meeting on Thursday, he added.

A well-placed source said the four RTCs — KSRTC, BMTC, NWKRTC and KKRTC — would have to forgo approximately Rs 4,700 crore annually if women travelled for free on their buses.

The scheme will cover only ordinary buses, which make up about 94 per cent of RTCs' fleet. The fares will not be hiked to generate funds for the scheme, the source added.

Premium buses such as Ambaari, Airavat and Rajahamsa that account for 6-7 per cent of the RTC's fleet but bring 8-10 per cent of the revenue will remain chargeable for all passengers, the source said.

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RTC officials said that while they had no qualms about implementing the scheme, they feared bus services could be hit if the government delayed releasing funds. The RTCs spend a large chunk of their revenue on diesel procurement and salary payments.

BMTC, Bengaluru's lifeline, has a higher share of female passengers who constitute over half the number. This means it might take a bigger hit in revenue.

An official at NWKRTC said the corporation earned about 92 per cent of its daily revenue of Rs 4.73 crore from non-premium bus services. It would need over Rs 2 crore per day to meet the shortfall if bus travel was made free for women. The NEKRTC needs Rs 2 crore per day.

Key numbers

* Karnataka's four RTCs have 23,978 buses and run 21,574 schedules per day.

* Staff strength: 1,04,450

* Daily ridership: 82.51 lakh (40 lakh are women)

* Daily revenue: Rs 23.13 crore

* Revenue in 2022-23: Rs 8,946.85 crore

* Operational cost in 2022-23: Rs 12,750.49 crore

* The government reimburses the RTCs for a portion of concessional bus passes. The RTCs suffered a loss of Rs 500 cr last year.

RTCs to get 4,249 new buses

While Reddy didn't answer a question about the Congress party's promise to increase the BMTC fleet to 11,000, he said the four RTCs would procure over 4,249 buses in the current financial year. This will help expand their fleet and comply with the union government's directive on scrapping old vehicles, he added.

The KSRTC will add 918, the BMTC 1,894, the NWKRTC 635 and the KKRTC 802 buses, he said.