CM: No proposal to revisit 'Shakti' scheme for women

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said that there is no proposal before the government to revisit the 'Shakti' scheme, which provides free bus travel for all women domiciled in the state. The clarification came amid criticism over Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar indicating about revisiting the scheme. Facing backlash over his statement, Shivakumar on Thursday ruled out withdrawing or revisiting any of the five guarantee schemes including Shakti, and accused media and opposition parties of distorting his statement. "There is no such proposal before the government, he (Shivakumar) only said what some women are saying. I don't know, I was not there. I will speak," Siddaramaiah said in response to a question regarding the Deputy CM's statement. Speaking to reporters here, the CM said: "there is no situation for revisiting it at the government level. There is no such intention, there is no such proposal." Noting that many women had tweeted and reached out to him expressing their willingness to pay for the ride, Shivakumar, addressing an event on Wednesday, said: "let's see, we will all sit and discuss it. They are a section (of women), they may be 5-10 per cent. Let's see, some have honestly expressed they are ready to pay. Ramalinga Reddy (Transport Minister) and I -- we will discuss in the government, what to do." Shakti is one of the five guarantee schemes rolled out by the Congress government after coming to power last year. Clarifying, Shivakumar on Thursday said, "I have not given any such statement, you (meida) and other parties are distorting my statement. Some who are well off and commute by bus, like employees, employees of private companies, have sent us mails, they have informed us, I can even show you their tweets (posts on X), that their companies are covering their transportation cost..."