The ‘Shakti’ scheme, a free bus travel service for women and transgender people in Karnataka, was launched on Sunday by the Congress government. The scheme is one of the five poll guarantees of the ruling party and aims to empower women and reduce their travel expenses. According to officials, the scheme will benefit more than 41.8 lakh women passengers every day and would cost the state exchequer an estimated Rs 4,051.56 crore annually .
Women who are domiciled in Karnataka can avail the benefit of the scheme by registering on the ‘Seva Sindhu’ government portal and getting a Shakti Smart Card. The scheme is available for the journey within the State limits after 1 pm today. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar inaugurated the scheme at Vidhana Soudha, the seat of Karnataka legislature and secretariat in Bengaluru . They also distributed free passes and tickets to some women passengers at bus stations .
The government said that this scheme would increase the participation of women in the workforce and ensure their active role in the economic activities . Siddaramaiah also criticised the opposition BJP for trying to create confusion among people and said that his government would implement all the other guarantees as per the timeline announced.
