The sky is overcast and a light drizzle has started. A group of women converse animatedly as they stand outside a garment factory on Mysuru road in Bengaluru, near Jnana Bharati (Bangalore University entrance) bus stop, less than 100 metres from the factory. It is 6 pm and some, including Sukanya, 38, have just finished a nine-hour shift at the factory. The women engage in banter and laughter, their faces appearing relaxed and serious by turn. After about 20 minutes, a bus finally appears in the distance.
Two women, including Sukanya, await the approaching bus. “Bus bantu, bus bantu (the bus is here),” Sukanya’s friends nudge her. The bus, which is free of charge for women in Karnataka, will ferry Sukanya directly to her home in Ramanagara district’s Basavanapura village, 45 km away. While Sukanya and the other women are excited at the prospect of free bus travel under the Shakti scheme, which was started by the Karnataka government a little over a month ago on June 11, the rising price of vegetables, especially tomatoes, has dampened their enthusiasm.
“I wanted to save Rs 1,500 every month and start a recurring deposit (RD) for my elder daughter’s education. But with the rise in vegetable prices, I may not be able to do it,” she says, as she manages to get a seat in the moderately crowded bus.
Sukanya, whose husband is no more, lives with her two children and parents. The family’s major breadwinner, she traverses a distance of about 90 km daily, from her home to the factory, and back. Before the free bus rides, Sukanya was spending Rs 90 per day for commuting to work six days a week. This put a significant dent on her monthly salary of Rs 10,000.
Sukanya, who also gets free rice from the government under its Anna Bhagya scheme, was thrilled when the free bus rides started.
The number of women passengers has increased exponentially since the Karnataka government started the Shakti scheme on June 11. (Express Photo by Jithendra M)
“I was the happiest person when the Congress government in Karnataka implemented free bus rides for women. But the rise in vegetable prices and children’s school fee is hurting the common man,” she says. The private school her children attend too hiked its annual fee from Rs 15,000 to Rs 17,500. She receives some help from her father, a farmer.
Women throng to avail free bus service
Sukanya is among the thousands of women who are thronging to avail of the free bus rides in the state. According to figures by the Karnataka transport department, women across the state took an estimated 17.39 crore rides at a cost of over Rs 417 crore to the government as on July 11 — a month after the government implemented the scheme. Women in Bengaluru took 5.59 crore trips, the highest in the state, at a cost of Rs 72.29 crore. An estimated 1.15 crore passengers took bus rides in Karnataka on July 11, with women accounting for 66.52 lakh passengers.
Usually the buses are packed, especially at peak hours, and finding a place to sit can be difficult. Jyothi, who is in her 50s, has managed to occupy a seat on an afternoon bus waiting to depart from Majestic Bus Terminus.
Before the Shakti scheme was launched in Karnataka, Jyothi, who is in her 50s, spent Rs 100 daily on commuting to work and back. She plans to use the money she will save on travel on medicines and other family expenses. (Express Photo by Prathiksha Lakshmikanth)
A pourakarmika or sweeper and garbage collector, Jyothi works for Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). She lives in Hesaraghatta, while her place of work is in Jayanagar, 40 km away. “I change two buses to reach work. I used to spend Rs 100 daily on bus rides, but now it is free. I will use this money for my medical and family expenses,” says Jyothi, whose monthly earnings are Rs 30,000.
Neelamma, 50, a homemaker and native of Magadi taluk of Ramanagara district, needs to travel frequently to Bengaluru, 60 km away, to visit her daughter and three grandchildren. Now she travels at least twice a week. “I am very happy that the government has made bus rides free for women. I used to spend about Rs 1,000 on travel, which I will now use for household expenses,” she says, comfortably seated next to a window seat on a bus headed to Magadi.
Suma, a domestic worker and native of Ramanagara district, stopped commuting by train to work once the free bus service began. The 26-year-old travels daily to Bengaluru and back with her mother, Muniamma, also a domestic worker. The two would end up spending about Rs 1,000 every month on train tickets to Bengaluru, about 50 km away. “I will save this money for my mother and my two children. My mother will soon turn 48. She has knee pain. I want her to quit her job and stay at home,” says Suma.
Nagarathnamma, who has worked with the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) for 20 years and is a conductor, says ticket collections have increased after the implementation of the scheme. “In a shift, my collection used to be Rs 3,500-Rs 4,000. But now, it has increased to Rs 6,000-Rs 7,000,” she says. While Nagarathnamma does not collect money from women passengers, she issues tickets, which are paid for by the government. As a result of the scheme, she now issues more tickets.
“We now see more women travelling by bus. But the problem happens during peak hours. Students are affected because of the crowd and have no place to sit. This needs to be addressed,” she says.
Nagarathnamma, who was a bus conductor with the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and is a conductor, says ticket collections have increased after the implementation of Shakti scheme in Karnataka. (Express Photo by Prathiksha Lakshmikanth)
Ranging benefits for women
Under the Shakti scheme, women can travel for free in a total of 18,609 buses, including 6,308 city buses, 5,958 ordinary buses and 6,343 express buses. The scheme does not apply to luxury and premium buses. The Karnataka government allocated Rs 4,000 crore for the scheme in the recent Budget.
Once considered impossible to implement in Karnataka, the rolling out of free bus rides to women by Punjab, Delhi and Tamil Nadu governments appears to have inspired the Karnataka government to launch the Shakti scheme. The measure has become the most important talking point in the state where women constituted nearly 50 per cent of voters in the state Assembly elections held in May.
On the first day of the free bus ride facility on June 11, Ningavva Shiggadi, a 70-year-old woman from a remote village of north Karnataka bowed to the bus out of gratitude after learning that it was a free bus ride. For Ningavva, this was unexpected freedom from having to ask her children for money and permission to travel.
Thanks to the free bus travel scheme for women in Karnataka, 50-year-old Neelamma has started visiting her daughter and three grandchildren more frequently in Bengaluru. (Express Photo by Prathiksha Lakshmikanth)
Many women have started travelling to places of religious tourism such as Dharmasthala, Subramanya, Belur and Nanjangud.
Karnataka-based NGO Bengaluru Bus Prayanikara Vedike (BBBPV), which promotes public transport, released a report on February 15, 2022, on the benefits of free transport for women. According to the report, free bus travel would improve the physical and emotional health of both women in informal and low-income jobs, and their families. It also emphasised that women’s participation at work would increase as a result.
Vinay Srinivas, a member of the NGO, says, “You can see the difference. More women are now part of the mainstream. Many women who were working in the informal sector are also taking up jobs. We have seen women walking 5-6 km daily to their workplaces. Now women are taking free buses. If their workplace is more than 10 km away, they happily go since it doesn’t cost them anything.”
Data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) shows that in 2016-17, women comprised only 15.3 per cent of India’s labour force. This fell to 12 per cent in 2019-20 and declined to 10.3 per cent in 2022-23.
Increased revenues for state transport corporation
It isn’t just women who are benefiting. Karnataka’s four road transport corporations too are reporting increased revenues owing to the scheme. In 2022-2023, the gross revenue of Karnataka’s four road transport corporations amounted to Rs 12,553 crore, with expenditure pegged at Rs 12,750 crore and losses of Rs 197.12 crore. After the scheme’s roll-out, the daily earnings of Karnataka’s transport corporations have increased from Rs 24.22 crore to Rs 28.94 crore, according to data shared by the state transport department. The rise in revenue is being attributed to the significant increase in the footfall. An estimated 1.09 crore passengers travelled daily by government buses compared to 85 lakh passengers before the scheme roll-out.
There has been an uptick in the number of women riding buses across Karnataka after the Shakti scheme was introduced on June 11; (right) A woman holds a free bus ticket issued under the Karnataka government's Shakti scheme. (Express Photos by Jithendra M) 
The number of women passengers has increased exponentially since the Karnataka government started the Shakti scheme on June 11. (Express Photo by Jithendra M)
Before the Shakti scheme was launched in Karnataka, Jyothi, who is in her 50s, spent Rs 100 daily on commuting to work and back. She plans to use the money she will save on travel on medicines and other family expenses. (Express Photo by Prathiksha Lakshmikanth)
Nagarathnamma, who was a bus conductor with the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and is a conductor, says ticket collections have increased after the implementation of Shakti scheme in Karnataka. (Express Photo by Prathiksha Lakshmikanth)
Thanks to the free bus travel scheme for women in Karnataka, 50-year-old Neelamma has started visiting her daughter and three grandchildren more frequently in Bengaluru. (Express Photo by Prathiksha Lakshmikanth)
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