Delhi CM, Arvind Kejriwal, comes out strong on delivering his promise as women in Delhi has started getting free rides from yesterday, 29th of October, 2019 on public buses. Bus Conductors will continue to give a ‘pink ticket’ which has a face value of Rs. 10 to women passengers which will token for free travel. Delhi government will pay the department the sum of money based on the number of pink tickets issued.
As of now, there are 3,700 buses under DTC and additional 1,800 are under the cluster scheme of Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS).
Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot tweeted ‘Historic Day for Delhi’ as he shares the issue.
Historic day for Delhi !!! Females will travel free in all Buses from 29.10.19. Notification has been issued. Delhi Govt under dynamic leadership of Honble Cm @ArvindKejriwal stands committed to ensure safety and security of Female passengers in Buses. pic.twitter.com/kPwXNkjgH3
— Kailash Gahlot (@kgahlot) October 28, 2019
Following Gahlot’s tweet, Delhi’s CM Arvind Kejriwal also tweeted saying it ‘A historic step for women safety and empowerment’.
Congratulations Delhi !!!
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) October 28, 2019
This is a historic step for women safety and empowerment https://t.co/wjLf4jB0GZ
Gahlot said, women comprises of 30% of the total travellers in DTC and cluster buses.
It is said that this free traveling scheme will also be available in Noida-NCR, airport, and some other services which are by DTC and cluster scheme operators. Krjriwal fulfilled his promise that he made during his independence day speech where he exclaimed that women in Delhi will not be charged to travel in public buses and this will be implemented on 29th October, i.e., Bhai Dooj.
Before Tuesday, there were 3,400 bus marshals in Delhi and number has be increased to 13,000, said Kejriwal.
Kejriwal while addressing the newly recruited Bus Marshals said, ‘Today, I am entrusting you all with a responsibility to ensure safety of women in each government bus and generate confidence in them so that they feel the comfort of a home in our buses’.
He added, ‘We are committed to boost security of women in Delhi. And, I don’t think the level at which we have scaled up the strength of bus marshals, it has been done in any city in the world’.
On the 29th of August, Delhi Cabinet has already given the in-principle green flag to this scheme of granting women the right to travel on public buses in Delhi for free, but did put a restriction on the women employees on Delhi government, local bodies, and undertakings; saying, if they want to avail this facility, they will need to let go of their transport allowance.
According to the official figures, Delhi’s public buses transports over 45 lakh travellers each day, and 15 lakh of them are women.
In June, Kejriwal also announced that women will get free rides in the Delhi Metro as well, however, DMRC (Delhi Metro Rail Corporation) asked for some time to find a way to implement this scheme.
Recently, the Delhi Assembly approved a sum of Rs. 150 crores so that the scheme can be implemented in the Delhi Metro as well.
