(MENAFN – Gulf Times) India’s capital city plans to make its state-run bus and metro network free for women commuters, hoping that higher use of public transport will improve women’s safety in one of the world’s largest metropolitan areas blighted by gender crime.
The announcement yesterday by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal came months ahead of an election in the union territory, as his Aam Aadmi Party faces a tough fight from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
‘Public transport is considered the safest for women and keeping that in mind, the government had decided that all buses and the metro will be made free for women, Kejriwal told reporters.
Home to some 26mn people nearly half of them women Delhi recorded the highest rate of crimes against women in India, according to the most recent federal crime records data released in 2017.
Gender crime has become a serious political issue in Delhi since 2012 when the gang-rape of a 23-year-old woman brought thousands of people on to city streets in protest.
Kejriwal, whose party swept to power in Delhi in 2015 partly on the promise of improved women’s safety, said the plan would be implemented in two to three months and cost around Rs7bn ($101mn) for the remainder of this year.
But the BJP and some women’s rights activists dismissed the proposal as a gimmick before the election to be held in early 2020.
The BJP, which won all seven of Delhi’s parliamentary seats in a general election that ended last month, said there weren’t enough buses in Delhi to take on the load if women commuters came out in numbers.
‘It’s a good idea, there’s no problem with (it), Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari told reporters, adding they had similar plans if voted back to power in Delhi.
‘BJP will also try to make all bus rides free in Delhi. We are working on it but we’ll announce it after the details are ready.
According to Kejriwal, the step would not only encourage women to use public transport more but also increase their participation in the workforce.
‘The female workforce participation nationally is 27%, but it is only 11% in Delhi. We hope the scheme will encourage more and more of our womenfolk to go out to work.
Kejriwal said the scheme will not impose any congestion in the metro as its capacity was 4mn.
BJP MP Vijay Goel accused the AAP of misleading people.
‘They have lost all the seven seats in Delhi and are now looking for different ways to fool people for the assembly elections, Goel said.
A senior Congress leader added: ‘It is all for elections.
Delhi will see assembly elections in late 2019 or early 2020.
Asked about possible linkages with the elections, Kejriwal said: ‘We have rolled out several unique schemes for the people.
Ranjana Kumari, director of Delhi-based women advocacy group Centre for Social Research, said free rides weren’t a long-term solution, pointing out that the Delhi government had failed to fulfil poll promises, including CCTVs and marshals on buses.
‘Why fritter away resources like that? Why not put them into the right places? Kumari said.
On social media, too, many women were critical of Kejriwal’s plan, calling for better security instead of free rides.
‘Sorry sir, we want safe and secure travel, not freebies, Twitter user Shruti Vats said, using the hashtag ‘WomenSayNoToFreeMetro.
Tags:Delhi plans free metro, bus travel for women
