THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister V D Satheesan’s announcement that free KSRTC bus travel for women will be rolled out on June 15 has triggered widespread speculation. While high-level discussions are under way regarding implementation strategy, the government is still working out operational details of this Congress poll promise under the Indira Guarantee scheme.
The CM refused to divulge specific details, fuelling rumours that the free service might be limited strictly to ordinary services or exclusive, women-only special buses.
The move has drawn fierce backlash from private bus operators, who warn that women form the backbone of their ridership and losing them will leave operators relying almost entirely on low-fare student concession tickets.
T Gopinathan, general secretary of the All Kerala Bus Operators Organisation (AKBOO), termed the decision a death blow to the private bus industry. “The industry will be finished if this scheme is implemented in toto,” he said.
He said while women make up two-thirds of all bus passengers, KSRTC—which carries 19 lakh women out of its 24 to 26 lakh daily passenger count—represents only 30% of Kerala’s total public transport capacity. Operators also argued that Kerala cannot be compared to neighbouring states that have introduced similar policies.
“In Tamil Nadu, the private sector is just 20% while a majority of the buses belong to the state transport department. Also, the number of buses with free rides are limited,” Gopinathan explained.
R Sreenivasan, a former official with the transport department, noted that the decision makes little sense purely from an economic angle, recalling that former Transport Minister K B Ganesh Kumar had warned that the scheme would be an economic disaster for KSRTC, based on Karnataka’s experience.
Consequently, private bus operators are now aggressively lobbying for a complete policy reversal to protect their businesses from the anticipated shift in ridership.
Arguments
1 Women make up two-thirds of all bus passengers, but KSRTC, which carries 19 lakh women out of its 26 lakh daily passenger count, represents only 30% of Kerala’s public transport capacity, says private bus operators
2 They also argue that Kerala cannot be compared to neighbouring states that have introduced similar policies