On June 11, the Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka Government launched a free bus service for women in the state. Congress MLA Roopkala drove the bus herself in her constituency to start the service. However, in the process, she accidentally put the vehicle in reverse gear, and the bus hit the vehicles parked behind, damaging them. The driver, standing next to the MLA, immediately took control of the bus and averted further damage. It is unclear if Roopkala has a license to drive the bus or if she was driving it without a license.
#BREAKING#Congress MLA damages several vehicles as she crashes a bus into them while participating in the free bus passes for women event in #Karnataka. – WATCH
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) June 12, 2023
Imran (@KeypadGuerilla) joins @madhavgk with more details from ground zero. pic.twitter.com/Bcn5Es7kZ7
Free bus ride for women under the ‘Shakthi’ scheme is one of the poll promises of Congress. Under this service, women and transgender people will get free rides in government-run buses. CM Siddharamaiah, Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, and transport minister Ramalinga Reddy launched the scheme and issued smart cards to a few beneficiaries. Interestingly, the smart cards issued to women were only replicas. The actual smart cards will be published in the next three months, the government said.
Meanwhile, it is up to the bus conductor to ensure free rides to the women as they will issue free tickets. One such ticket was flaunted by General Secretary of Media and Communications and spokesperson of Karnataka Congress Lavanya Ballal Jain. “Here’s my zero fare ticket in the free bus service launched for women in Karnataka by the Congress Government,” she wrote.
Here’s my zero fare ticket in the free bus service launched for women in Karnataka by the Congress Government #Shakthi pic.twitter.com/cqpGnHG1IS
— Lavanya Ballal Jain (@LavanyaBallal) June 11, 2023
Netizens pointed out that this scheme might create similar issues for women in the future as it has created in Delhi, where bus conductors show reluctance in taking female passengers as they would not pay. In May 2023, it was reported that conductors were not stopping the bus for female passengers in Delhi. A conductor was suspended over a similar matter.
