Bengaluru, June 09: Women who are travelling free on buses under the state government’s ambitious ‘Shakti’ scheme have got another piece of good news, the ‘Smart Card’ system will be implemented soon. After the implementation of this new system, the hassle of showing Aadhaar card while travelling on buses will be eliminated.
The government will distribute smart cards to more than three crore women beneficiaries in the state, which will eliminate the hassle of showing physical identity cards to the daily operators.
After taking charge as the Transport Minister on Monday, Bairati Suresh held a meeting with the officials.
Speaking on the occasion, she said that the smart card system will be implemented with the aim of further facilitating free bus travel for women under the state government’s ambitious ‘Shakti’ scheme.
She said that a plan has been made to distribute these smart cards to more than three crore people in the state.
These smart cards will be given free of cost to women. Men can get the card by paying a fee like the Metro card. He informed that there will also be a system for recharging after the amount in the card is exhausted.
The government has prepared to invite tenders in view of the need to print more than three crore smart cards. He said that the officials have been instructed to start the process of distributing smart cards soon under the pilot scheme.
Meanwhile, the minister visited the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) head office and held a meeting with senior officials of KSRTC, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) and Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KKRTC) to review the functioning of the department.
Speaking on the occasion, the minister said that the five guarantee schemes of the state Congress government have improved the lives of the people. Crores of women are benefiting from the Shakti scheme and the number of passengers has increased by about 40 percent after the implementation of the scheme.
Currently, under the ‘Shakti’ scheme, women have to show their Aadhaar card or other identity proof for free travel, which is causing many confusions and delays.
Especially during peak hours, women have to search for their Aadhaar card in their purse while boarding the bus. As a permanent solution to this problem, the state government is implementing a smart card system, and once this new smart card scheme is implemented, bus travel for women will be even easier.