Bengaluru: Women in Karnataka have availed themselves of 227 crore free rides in government non-luxury buses under the "Shakti" guarantee in the last one year, costing the state exchequer Rs 5,526.64 crore, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy said on Tuesday.
The Congress government, led by Siddaramaiah, launched the "Shakti" scheme one of the five guarantees which the party had promised before the Assembly elections on June 11 last year.
These promises are said to have yielded rich electoral dividends to the Congress, helping it dethrone the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government.
As the government celebrates one year of "Shakti" guarantee implementation, Reddy said in a statement that 226.95 women travelled free of cost in the government buses.
Most such rides were accounted for by the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation buses (BMTC-71.45 crore), followed by Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC-69.5 crore).
North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) and Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KKRTC) posted 52.12 crore and 33.47 crore free rides, respectively.
KSRTC incurred an expenditure of Rs 2,111.14 crore, NWKRTC Rs 1,352.68 crore, KKRTC Rs 1,125.81 crore and BMTC Rs 937.01 crore, the statement said.
Reddy said several measures have been taken to improve the public transport system such as approval for the induction of 5,800 new buses. In addition, 2,438 new buses have been inducted across the four transport corporations in recent times.
According to the minister, the state inducted new buses with brand name Pallakki, Ashwamedha Classic, Kalyana Ratha and Amogha Varsha.
Approval has been accorded for recruitment of 9,000 posts in the department. In this regard, appointment orders have been issued to recruit 1,844 driver-cum-conductors and technical assistants, Reddy said.
"Recruitment for 6,500 posts (KSRTC- 2,500 driver-cum-conductors, BMTC-2,000 conductors, NWKRTC -1,000 drivers and 1,000 conductors) is under process and will be completed soon," the minister said.
The government has also enhanced accident relief compensation from Rs three lakh to Rs 10 lakh to dependents in case of death of any passenger in an accident while travelling in bus operated by state-run corporations, he added.
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kashmiri issue cannot be solved until indian gov remove the army from the location, see how gaza now...the battle will never end until the destruction of isreal...today palistein may week but it will take all revenge when time comes...same way kashmir is like boiling point
Not just Kashmir, he would have solved a lot of issues. He was removed from his post, as he did not accept the demands of crony capitalists backed by north Indian politics. Kannadigas should prefer Kannadigas for their leader. Karnataka has all the resources to run and function independently as a nation, and we will be so much better.
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