BENGALURU: Shakti, one of the five guarantee schemes of the Congress government in the state, completed two years on Wednesday, clocking a whopping 474.82 crore free rides availed by women in state-run non-premium buses across Karnataka, in that period. The total ticket price of the free rides stood at Rs 11,994 crore.
The popular scheme, which was launched on June 11, 2023, was one of the first guarantees implemented after the Congress came to power in Karnataka, and has been receiving an overwhelming response. Officials from the state-run bus corporations said Shakti has not only increased the number of women passengers, but also helped increase the intake of male passengers. Since the launch of the scheme, women across the state have been using the free travel benefit not only to travel to work, but also undertake pilgrimages and leisure tours.
Shakti also piqued the interest of other states, like Andhra Pradesh, whose representatives visited KSRTC earlier this year, to learn about its operational framework and the challenges in implementing it, a KSRTC official said.
The total number of passengers (including men) who travelled in ordinary buses under the four corporations -- Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KKRTC), and North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) -- since the launch of the Shakti scheme (June 11, 2023 up to June 10, 2025) stands at 801.54 crore, according to data shared by KSRTC.
Among the four bus corporations, BMTC had the highest women passengers at 150 crore, followed by KSRTC at 144 crore. While 111 crore women travelled in NWKRTC buses, 68 crore women availed the free travel benefit with KKRTC. In terms of total ticket value of women passengers, KSRTC topped the list at Rs 4,556 crore, followed by Rs 2,968 crore in NWRTC, Rs 2,408 crore in KKRTC, and BMTC with Rs 2,061 crore.
While the state government said it will be distributing Shakti Smart Cards to women, by linking them with their Aadhaar with local domicile, which can be produced to avail the free travel, no concrete development has taken place in this regard in the past two years.
The Guarantee in Numbers (from June 11, 2023, to June 10, 2025)
Total number of rides 801.54 crore
Total number of free rides availed 474.82 crore
Total ticket value of free rides availed D11,994 crore
BMTC had the highest women passengers with 150 crore, followed by KSRTC with 144 crore