Bengaluru: Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah launched the Congress government’s free travel scheme in public transport buses for women in the state - Shakti – last week. Siddaramaiah said the scheme will empower women and increase their representation in public life.
The scheme allows women and transgenders to travel free in government buses within Karnataka. However, there are restrictions on the kind of buses that are allowed. “Women and transgenders are eligible for the free bus travel, said the CM. As per KSRTC officials, on an average, about 42,00,000 women passengers will benefit from the scheme every day. Transport minister Ramalinga Reddy said 50% of the 65 million people in the state are women and 90% of them using buses will benefit from this scheme.
Tenants too to get 200 units of free power
Allaying fears of people residing in rented accommodation about the free power scheme, the CM and energy minister KJ George said that tenants, too, would get the benefit of the scheme if they were consuming less than 200 units of power in a month.
“All households that are consuming less than 200 units of power will be covered under the scheme. Only commercial buildings are not covered by the scheme,” Siddaramaiah said. Karnataka witnessed its steepest hike in power tariffs in mid-May when the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) ordered a 70-paise hike per unit. Even though the previous BJP government constantly rejected proposals to increase the power tariff, the KERC uploaded its revised orders on its website on May 12, a day before the results of the state assembly elections were announced.