Karnataka govt earmarks Rs 2800 crore for Shakti scheme, but activists say ‘not enough’

This scheme provides free bus travel for women and has seen a significant increase in female commuters using public transport. Since its initiation on June 11, over 10 crore women have availed the free bus scheme, incurring a cost of Rs 248 crore for the four road transport corporations.

However, there is a lack of clarity on the allocation for salaries, induction of new buses, and maintenance, which the road transport corporations strongly advocated for last week. The budget has allotted Rs 190 crore for the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, Rs 236 crore for the Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation, and Rs 200 crore for the North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation. Notably, there is no mention of the outlay for the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation.

The government views the Shakti scheme as a means to boost women’s participation in the labor force, leading to increased purchasing power for the poor and lower-middle classes. This, in turn, is expected to generate more revenue for the government and accelerate economic growth.

To fund the estimated cost of around Rs 60,000 crore for the five major poll guarantees, the government plans to increase taxes on certain vehicle categories. The transport department has set a revenue collection target of Rs 11,500 crore for the year 2023-24.

Vinay Sreenivasa, a member of the pro-bus activist group, Bengaluru Bus Prayanikara Vedika, said, “The RTCs proposed tall requirements of hiring over 8000 employees and inducting 4000 buses across all RTCs. However, the budget does not give us the break up of how the funds will be allocated to each of these. The allocation for the RTCs in the current budget is clearly not sufficient for financing the salaries of the employees and the high maintenance cost.”

He also said that it is overall a ‘disappointing’ budget for the transport department. “It is a very Bengaluru centric budget, with the capital city getting most of the infrastructure boost. The whole idea is to decongest Bengaluru by spreading the resources to other cities in the state. It is a very lopsided budget,” he added.

Expansion of metro from 70 km to 170 km

Meanwhile, the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) gets an allocation of Rs 3,563 crore to expand its network from the current 70 km to 170 km, in the next three years. The ongoing work of the airport metro line will be expedited and it will be operationalized by 2026, along with the expansion plans between Baiyyappanahalli and KR Pura, Kengeri and Challaghatta, Nagadandra and Madawara and RV Road and Bommasandra.

In addition, the state government is set to propose a new metro line of 37 km from Hebbal to Sarjapur at an estimated cost of Rs 15,000 crore. Further, the state government will also set aside Rs 1000 crore as part of its share for the ambitious Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project. The central government has released Rs 500 crore to date out of its share of Rs 3242 crore, while the state has released Rs 660 crore, out of its share of Rs 5,087 crore.