Arvind Kejriwal announces free Delhi Metro, DTC Bus rides for women
- by Satyam-Singh
- Jun 04, 2019 14:31
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday announced free travel for women in Delhi Metro, DTC and cluster buses, just months before the Delhi Assembly elections. After defeat in the Lok Sabha election, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which runs the state government in Delhi, has started a public outreach programme to control the harm before next year’s assembly election. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the Bharatiya Janata Party registered 65 out of 70 assembly segments in the national capital, while AAP failed to lead in any assembly segment.
The proposal will be implemented within 2-3 months. “Women will be given free rides in DTC, cluster buses and the Delhi Metro. The government will bear their travel expenses," Kejriwal said at a press conference. “Subsidy will not be imposed on anyone. There are several women who can afford these modes of transport. Those who can afford, can purchase tickets, they need not take subsidy. We encourage those, who can afford, to buy tickets and not take subsidy so that others could benefit,” he said on Monday.
However, the scheme is just a proposal and has not been launched yet. Kejriwal has asked officials to study the proposal. Officers have been provided a week to prepare a detailed report after which a proposal will be brought in the cabinet. "I've given one-week time to officials to make a detailed proposal - for both DTC and metro - on how and when can this be implemented. We're making an effort to start this within 2-3 months. We're also seeking suggestions from people, regarding implementation." He stated.
"Initially, we had told the Centre not to increase the price of tickets, they didn't agree. We told them we've 50-50 partnership, let's give 50-50 subsidy on raised prices, they didn't agree. Delhi government will bear the fare of what we're going to do. We needn't take approval for this," he said.
The scheme to make Delhi Metro and DTC rides free was made "to encourage the women to use public transport".
Leave a Reply