NEW DELHI: With Assembly polls round the corner, the Delhi government is planning to dole out a series of concessions to women commuters in the Delhi Metro in the next few months.According to sources, in a meeting transport minister Kailash Gahlot directed officials of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to come up with a detailed proposal. In addition to this, bus commuters could also get a similar kind of concession through Delhi Transport Corporation. Earlier last year, the DMRC had a representation from student unions and senior citizens group to consider similar kind of concessions.
Students from Delhi University also met CM Arvind Kejriwal requesting student metro cards similar to the DTC but that is still to see the light of day. Nearly 30% of the total commuters are women and a concession will incur an estimated Rs 1,000 crore of extra expenditure on the state exchequer. In addition to this around Rs 200 crore of expenditure will be incurred by DTC.
Sources in the Delhi government said, DMRC has been asked to give a detailed presentation on the project which will inform about the expenditure, number of passengers, timeline and other necessary details which will then be presented before the cabinet for approval.
Wooing women
The AAP government wants to start the policy in DTC, cluster buses and DMRC at the same time. 30% of commuters are women and a concession will lead to an estimated D1,000 cr extra expenditure
Early Metro today
In view of Civil Services’ preliminary exam, metro train services on Sunday will begin at 6 am on all corridors, officials said. Metro train services on Phase-III sections will begin at 6 AM on all lines