As many as eight lakh women constituted the estimated daily ridership in Delhi Metro.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal says the idea is to make public transport “safer” for women and to “encourage more women to become a part of the city’s workforce”.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday announced that the Delhi government intended to subsidise travel aboard public transportation for female commuters in the Capital.
This, Mr. Kejriwal claimed, was both in line with his government’s intent to make public transport “safer” as well as to “encourage more women to become a part of the city’s workforce” currently dominated by their male counterparts.
While the modalities of the scheme were still being worked out, the government, Mr. Kejriwal said, intended to allow travel on metro trains and State-run buses effectively free of charge for female commuters.
“It will be up to [female] commuters to purchase tickets or not; government departments have been asked to work on the proposal and present it for consideration within a week,” the Delhi Chief Minister told a press conference adding that the proposal was expected to become a reality “within two to three months.”
“This [free travel] is a subsidy that the Delhi government will be providing on its own; no clearance from the Centre is required,” Mr Kejriwal said further adding that the scheme would cost around ₹700 to ₹800 crore for the remainder of the financial year as per current government estimates.
According to Mr. Kejriwal, as many as 8 lakh women constituted the estimated daily ridership of 25 lakh passengers aboard the Delhi Metro.
“This step will perhaps add an extra one lakh female passengers to the daily ridership. We hope it will also increase the participation of women in the city’s workforce,” he said.
The Chief Minister also spoke of related developments such as the expected addition of 3,000 buses to the city’s streets over the coming six months and the installation of CCTV cameras across Delhi.
“We are in the process of acquiring buses and will be able to add 3,000 buses, in batches, to the transportation system by the end of this year. Marshalls for the security of women passengers will also be deployed on cluster buses,” he claimed.
“The other step in line with enhancing women’s security is the installation of CCTV cameras; 70,000 cameras will be installed beginning June 8 till November. This number will be increased to 2 lakh by the end of the year,” he added.
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