Ministers in-charge of various districts inaugurated the Shakti free bus travel for women scheme in various North Karnataka districts on Sunday. Women passengers who were present in large numbers in bus stands in the respective districts welcomed the move.
Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi inaugurated the scheme in Belagavi, while M.B. Patil launched it in Vijayapura and H.K. Patil did the honours in Gadag.
Mr. Jarkiholi described Shakti scheme as a game-changer development. It will speed up women’s empowerment in the State.
He urged women to utilise the facility of free travel in State transport buses for educational tours, skill training and entrepreneurship development, apart from routine travel.
“This is a historic milestone in our efforts at empowering women. There has been a lot of argument in favour of it and against it. We welcome such discussions as they will provide critical feedback to our efforts. We have introduced this in record time. We are convinced, however, that the scheme will be a model for the whole country in empowering women and helping poor families save significant amount of money on transportation,” he said.
It will help working women, girl students and senior citizens, he said. He said that the State government will reimburse the cost of women’s free travel to the State-run transport corporations.
He said that the Congress government is committed to implementing all the pre-poll guarantees. They will be introduced in phases, he said. “We have estimated that it will cost around ₹60,000 crore. But they will lead to prosperity and well-being of the people. We will not only implement the guarantees, but also other assurances given by our leaders during the polls,” he said.
Member of Legislative Council Prakash Hukkeri recalled that the Congress government built hi-tech bus stops across the district at a cost of ₹265 crore.
Member of Legislative Assembly Asif (Raju) Sait, Deputy Commissioner Nitesh Patil, Police Commissioner M.B. Boralingaiah, Superintendent of Police Sanjiv Patil, NWKRTC officers R. Venugopal and Ganesh Rathod and others were present.
In Vijayapura, Mr. M.B. Patil said that the scheme is in accordance with the principle of gender equality envisioned by Sri Basaveshwara. The Congress government has kept its promise to provide free bus travel to women. The other guarantees will be implemented soon, he said.
He said that the State government will name the Vijayapura bus stand after Kittur Rani Channamma.
In Gadag, Mr. H.K. Patil travelled on a NWKRTC bus for a few kilometres, after inaugurating the scheme.
Delay in Jamkhandi
In Jamkhandi in Bagalkot, there was some delay in the inauguration of the scheme as Congress and BJP workers got into an argument over which party should take credit for the scheme.
