Private bus operators in state feel pinch of free bus rides for women

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: As the Congress government’s free bus ride to women under the Shakti scheme is a big hit amongst women of the state, the impact of the same is severe on the private bus operators in the state as they witness decline in their income. Suresh P, a private bus driver at the Kalasipalya in Bengaluru told News Trail that he was forced to ride the bus with minimum to no women passengers, affecting his income.

“Fewer women passengers are turning up after the Congress government implemented the Shakti scheme. Sometimes we rode the bus without female passengers for a few km. We will face a huge loss and our future will be bleak if the trend continues”, Suresh said. Suresh operates his bus between Punganur and Bengaluru.

According to these operators, more than 10,000 private buses are operating in the state. Vikram, the general secretary of Karnataka’s Private Bus Federation, told News Trail that the governments also should help them and save them from revenue loss.

“While we welcome the Shakti scheme, we also request the state government to find solutions for us. We are deprived of passengers and the income due to it. Our families and children will go hungry if the loss continues”, he said, refusing to disclose the daily and weekly income of the private operators. News Trail saw more private buses parked at the Kalasipalya bus stand for more than an hour. When asked, the drivers and conductors said it was because of the lack of passengers.

“A lot of women passengers, mostly working people and college students used to ride on our buses daily. It has now changed. As they wait for the government buses to show up,” commented another private bus driver Sommaiah who drives on the Bengaluru to Murugamalla route.

The federation also claimed that it pays a whopping amount close to 50,000 per vehicle as the tax to the state government per quarter, and added they will not be able to pay if they do not see an increase in income. Besides, the operators also cried foul over balancing the maintenance cost amid the hit on their income.