Public transport campaigners of Karnataka unhappy, say Budget hardly addresses BMTC issues
Basavaraj Bommai announced a free bus pass facility for all school and college girl students of the state at a cost of Rs 350 crore under the ‘Vidhya Vahini’ Scheme which is set to benefit eight lakh girl students.
Bommai also said that the government will provide Rs 500 crore for buying 1,200 new buses for transport corporations in the year 2023-24. Bengaluru Bus Prayanikara Vedike (BBPV), a volunteer organisation, and other public transport campaigners who rally for Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses were disappointed by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s Budget and said it hardly addresses the crippling problems of the transport corporation.
Earlier, the bus commuters’ advocacy groups had demanded Bommai to reach the Vidhana Soudha to present the Budget by travelling in a bus.
Bommai, who announced his first revenue surplus Budget Friday, launched the Makkala bus scheme through which an additional 1,000 schedules will be operated through different road transport corporations at a cost of Rs 100 crore to enhance the transport facilities for school and college-going students. Bommai also proposed to provide free bus pass facility for all women working in the organised sector and provided Rs 1,000 crore for the scheme which will benefit a total of 30 lakh women.
Bommai also announced a free bus pass facility for all school and college girl students of the state at a cost of Rs 350 crore under the ‘Vidhya Vahini’ Scheme which is set to benefit eight lakh girl students.
Bommai also said that the government will provide Rs 500 crore for buying 1,200 new buses for transport corporations in the year 2023-24. He also mentioned that the government is also planning to increase the number of electric buses in the coming years in the BMTC and the KSRTC.
However, the BBPV issued a statement and said that while the free bus scheme and Makkala bus scheme with additional bus schedules is welcome, not enough has been done to make it accessible to students across the state and the women in the unorganised sector.
A statement from the group said, “It’s good to note that the government is introducing the Vidhya Vahini scheme for students. However, this is limited to 8 lakh girl students which is far lesser than the number of students in Karnataka. The scheme should be available to all students. In terms of new buses, the budget has allocated Rs 500 crore for 1200 buses for all four road transport corporations. This is nowhere near sufficient. We had demanded 3000 buses for BMTC alone.”
The group added, “The government has also put a hiring freeze on BMTC which is crippling BMTC. While some new buses will come, there is no budget for hiring new staff. This may again lead to outsourcing and further weakening BMTC. The outlays for BMTC are nowhere near enough to benefit people at large or adequately support BMTC.”
Rajkumar Dugar, founder and convenor of Citizens for Citizens, said, “The BMTC is the largest stakeholder in the public transportation system which carries close to 30 lakh passengers every day. However, it is very disappointing to see that the government has not allocated funds to revive the BMTC to its original glory, where it used to carry 50 lakh passengers. All other steps taken in the Budget for public transport projects, including sub-urban rail projects, are welcome, but these were long overdue. While there is focus on high cost projects, the Budget finds no mention for walkability, cycling and other sustainable transport models.”
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