Uphill task ahead for government gearing up to implement free bus travel scheme for women
The TDP-led coalition government in Andhra Pradesh is gearing up to launch the the much-awaited 'free bus travel' scheme for women across the State on Independence Day. However, the initiative, which aims at improving women's mobility, comes with substantial financial implications for the State exchequer.
The task of doing the spadework for the successful launch of the scheme awaits the government. Augmentation and strengthening of the existing fleet of buses in the AP State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) besides recruiting additional staff is paramount for implementing the scheme.
According to a preliminary estimates prepared by the State-run public transport organisation, the Corporation, which is already struggling with shortage of funds, will have to take an additional monthly burden of ₹265 crore (₹3,182 crore annually) if the new facility is introduced on Pallevelugu, Ultra Pallevelugu, Express, Metro Express and City Ordinary buses.
Under this scheme, the APSRTC may have to allocate 7,930 buses from its fleet for the free bus travel, besides requiring 2,045 additional buses and 11,479 additional staff, including 5,016 drivers, 5016 conductors and 1,447 maintenance staff. The number of women travellers daily is expected to go up from the existing 16.11 lakh to 26.95 lakh, an increase of 10.84 lakh if the proposal comes into effect.
Should the Corporation chooses to have the free travel facility only on Pallevelugu, Ultra Pallevelugu and City Ordinary buses, it would cost the Corporation an additional ₹177 crore a month, running into an annual expenditure of ₹2,122 crore. In this scenario, the officials will have to deploy 6,136 buses, induct 1,684 additional buses and recruit 4,129 drivers, 4,129 conductors and 1,191 maintenance staff. In this case, the existing number of women travellers may go up from 14.30 lakh to 23.28 lakh, an increase of 8.89 lakh.
'We are looking at every aspect of the initiative to ensure that the launch and the subsequent implementation is smooth and efficient,' Minister for Transport M. Ramprasad told The Hindu on Sunday.
Pointing out that a delegation of Ministers and officials, led by him, had travelled in the neighbouring states that are already implementing the scheme, he said the team members had observed certain aspects like an increase in traffic to pilgrim centres, a huge demand for operating bus services to the villages, which either did not have bus connection or bus services were discontinued, and the need to construct additional toilets for women in bus stations due to the swell in the crowd.
Besides Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in the south, Delhi and Punjab governments also permit women to travel for free on their respective State-run buses. In Telangana, the women travellers opting for the State transport corporation buses constituted 40%, but the number rose to 63 % (an increase by 23 %) after implementation of the 'Mahalakshmi' scheme, Karnataka saw women commuters increase from 40% to 55% under its 'Shakti' scheme, while in Tamil Nadu, the number of women travelling on that State RTC buses increased from 37% to 69% under its 'Vidiyal Payanam' scheme.
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