KSRTC officials in Mangaluru and Puttur divisions said that ‘Shakti’, the free bus travel scheme for women in the state, has been welcomed by women passengers of all ages in the district.
In the Mangaluru division, a total of 5,454 women passengers travelled in 303 schedules on June 11. The ticket value of all women in the division was Rs 1,90,155. In the Puttur division, 6,200 women passengers travelled in 341 buses and their ticket value was Rs 2.18 lakh.
In Mangaluru-1 depot, 825 women passengers travelled in 53 schedules while 2,607 women commuted in 117 schedules from Mangaluru-3 depot; 1,082 women commuted in 68 schedules in Kundapura depot and 940 women in 65 schedules in Udupi depot.
KSRTC Mangaluru Divisional Controller (DC) Rajesh Shetty said women may avail the benefit of the ‘Shakti’ Scheme in 644 buses that operate 3,211 trips in Mangaluru, Udupi, Kundapur (in Mangaluru division), Puttur, Dharmasthala, B C Road and Sullia units (in Puttur division) of the corporation.
Besides buses from Mangaluru and Puttur divisions, women can travel free in 301 trips of NWKRTC and KKRTC that operate from Mangaluru. “The occupancy of women in city buses increased from 15 per cent to 40 per cent. The exact trend will be known only after a few days,” he said.
Shetty clarified that KSRTC bus conductors will not lose their incentives on daily collections with the introduction of free travel for women. “KSRTC will add the value of free tickets issued in the bus for each trip to the daily collection and the incentive will be calculated,” he said.
Mangaluru division has 51 ‘Nagara Sarige’ buses that operate 509 trips, 104 ‘Samanya Sarige’ buses that operate 576 trips and 148 ‘Vegadoota Sarige’ buses that operate 148 trips. Puttur division has 222 ‘Samanya Sarige’ operating 1,716 trips and 119 ‘Vegadoota Sarige’ operating
262 trips.
Puttur KSRTC DC Jayakar Shetty said the response from women has been good since the launch of the scheme on Sunday noon. The division has 502 buses with 468 schedules. But the 24 sleeper, 19 Rajahamsa and 37 inter-state buses to Kasargod, Panaji, Ooty, Tirupati and other destinations were not covered under the scheme.
Women can avail of free service in seven to eight inter-state buses from Puttur to Kotyadi, Galimukha, Delampady, Adoor, Kurchipalla and the border of Manjeshwar, all of which come
within the 20-km radius, the DC added.
Women should produce Aadhaar Card or any ID card issued by state/central governments, or ID card issued by the Department of Empowerment of differently abled and senior citizens to avail the benefit, officials said.
Women in the district seemed enthusiastic about the prospects of the new scheme. Harini from Mangaluru said, “More KSRTC buses should be introduced in the city to check rash and negligent driving by private city buses.”
Another woman from Raichur said that she could travel to her native place Raichur twice a month, thanks to the scheme and added that it helps to save money.
Many villages not covered
The majority of villages in Puttur, Sullia and Kadaba taluks are connected through KSRTC buses, while Bantwal and Belthangady have both KSRTC and private buses. A few KSRTC buses operate in Mulki, Ullal, Moodbidri and Mangaluru taluks. No KSRTC buses operate on the Mangaluru-Moodbidri stretch.