Activists: Smart cards will undo good of Shakti scheme

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Shakti, the free bus travel scheme for women in Karnataka, is one of the Congress government’s five poll promises. The scheme, however, is not very straightforward. It mandates that women apply for a smart card on the Seva Sindhu portal to avail the benefit.

Activists have alleged that the usage of a smart card will undo benefits of the scheme. Members of Bangalore Bus Prayaanikara Vedike (BBPV), on Wednesday, submitted a memorandum to Minister of Transport Ramalinga Reddy, raising concerns regarding implementation of the scheme.

The Congress government announced issuing smart cards to women to track the distance they travel and to reimburse the amount to the RTCs. The government has given three months for the applicants to register and avail a smart card. It will provide tickets free of cost until then.

What activists say

Saying that there was no reason why ticket sales cannot be used to calculate the distance, activists recommended the government to follow the system that other states like Delhi have implemented. A separate ticket can be issued to address the need to a large extent, they say. Vinay Sreenivas, an activist and member of the BBPV, said smart cards will also lead to the denial of services as it creates multiple points of failure and opportunities for exclusion.

“The difficulty in using the portal led to a large number of domestic workers being denied compensation”, he said. He also questioned who will be answerable to the women if they don’t get the card even after registration. The portal asks for the Aadhaar number and Digi locker services to register.

The members highlighted this to the minister in their letter and said it violates the right to privacy of female passengers. Vinutha from Sadhana Magila Sangha, an NGO, echoed the same view. She said the scheme will unjustly exclude many deserving beneficiaries. “The requirement of domicile proof will affect migrant workers, who contribute significantly to the growth of the state, besides other visitors.

Karnataka must follow states like Tamil Nadu and Delhi and ask only for such proof. These proofs will needlessly foster discrimination against genuine beneficiaries”, she said. They also urged for the immediate expansion of the KSRTC fleet to prevent overcrowding, as also timely reimbursement to the RTCs.