The BJP's fake news factory will keep on generating lies about the Congress government's pro-poor people schemes.
Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy flagging off new buses.
Karnataka’s Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy is upbeat over the response to the Shakti Scheme, the flagship programme of the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government.
The scheme empowers women by providing them with free travel on government-operated buses — 6,308 city, 5,958 ordinaries, and 6,343 express buses — within the state.
The scheme is estimated to cost the state exchequer ₹4,050 crore annually. Ramalinga Reddy, however, is unperturbed. The government’s public transport system is a service not focused on profit, unlike private players, he said.
In an interaction with South First, Ramalinga Reddy details the Shakti Scheme, one of the five guarantees the Congress promised to implement once voted to power, the accident-prone Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway, and more. Edited excerpts:
Q. How is the response to the Shakti Scheme?
A. Shakthi Scheme was part of our election manifesto — to provide free travel for all women in Karnataka. We rolled it out on 11 June. More than nine crore beneficiaries have availed of this scheme till 29 June. It is a very good initiative.
Women are visiting not only Dharmashthala but also other temples like Mysuru’s Chamundeshwari, Kukke Subramanya, and tourist destinations. Buses are a bit crowded now, but other than that, everything is fine. Even in Mangaluru, more than 20 lakh women have travelled availing this facility.
In the state, we have 24,000 buses, and out of that 20,000 buses conduct 1.56 lakh schedules daily. Even international media houses have lauded this scheme after seeing the reality. But the BJP leaders are ridiculing this scheme due to political reasons.
Q. The Karnataka RTCs are making losses. How will the Shakthi Scheme impact them?
A. When I was the transport minister during 2013-2017, the four corporations were making a loss of about ₹300 crore. Private transport companies will not operate if they suffer a loss in business. But government buses are different. Even if we are making a loss, we are bound to operate schedules and we should keep the show running.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, not only our corporations, but every other company throughout the country faced its brunt. Public transport corporations in the state or elsewhere in the country cannot function like private transport companies that operate for profit. We have to ply the buses for the public, even if the number of passengers is less.
We have 25,000 villages in Karnataka. Our buses connect all of them, except 300. Even if there are only 10 or 15 passengers, we have to operate buses on those routes.
We are now keeping a track on the number of women passengers using the buses, and the cost of their travel. The government is bearing the entire expense. Hence it cannot be considered a loss for the corporations as the government is compensating them.
Q. The Shakti Scheme seems to have adversely hit private bus operators and auto-rickshaw drivers across the state. Does the government have any plans to help them?
A. At present, there are no plans.. we will study how many of them have shifted to state-run vehicles from private operators in all cities, and then act accordingly. We will have to wait for some more time and study the frequency at which they travel and then decide on it. It is too early to comment on that aspect.
Q. There is a shortage of buses in all regional transport corporations in the state, especially in rural areas. Is there any plan for adding more buses to the RTCs?
A. Our managing directors are looking into the matter. Wherever there is a heavy rush of passengers, we are keeping a tab on that and wherever there is a need for increasing the frequency or the number of buses — such as to temples and tourist destinations — we have added more schedules. We are adding more buses also.
In 2003, we had 1,000 buses. In 2015 it increased to 24,000. But the number of buses is still the same even after all these years. New buses replaced those that were scrapped. Considering our population, we need 1,000 more buses in Bengaluru and its outskirts. We need 10,000 buses more for the entire state.
But compared to other states, Karnataka has the maximum number of buses, and we have plans to add more buses.
Q. What are the plans for introducing electric buses across the state?
A. We now have around 800 electric buses, including under BMTC and KSRTC. In future, we will go for electric buses for controlling the pollution levels.
Earlier, the Union government gave subsidies to the states to introduce electric buses, but that is no more available. If any private parties are interested, we would take it up on a priority basis. We can provide a driver and conductor and also give a per-kilometre rate for electric buses we take on lease.
Q. The increase in private vehicles is causing chaos on city roads. Do you have any plans to ease the situation?
A. We cannot ask people not to use private vehicles. We can only request them to utilise the public transport system more. If a majority of the people use public transport facilities, traffic on roads will be less. I encourage and appeal to people to use the Metro and other public transport systems so that we can have a solution to this problem.
Q. What is your take on the Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway? The toll rates have increased, and the number of accidents, too, is high. Around 150 people have lost their lives so far and 300 others were injured. Are there any plans to address these issues?
A: I have travelled on this expressway four to five times. We can indeed reach Mysore in a short time, but there are no facilities. There are no lay-bys, no means for a crane, ambulance, or a fire and emergency vehicle to rush to an accident scene.
There is an accident every other day. We have to hold engineers responsible for the situation. The National Highway Authority of India should act and rectify the mistakes.
Q. Being in charge of the development of wards in Bengaluru, what are your plans for the municipal (BBMP) elections?
A. The BBMP will complete three years without elections in September (the term of the previous BBMP council ended on 10 September, 2020). We are confident of holding the polls this December. Earlier, the BJP government did not want to hold municipal elections, and they kept prolonging it as they wished.
Now, the reservations and delimitations of wards have been completed. We hope to conduct the elections in December this year. The court also found fault in the delimitation done by the BJP government. We have formed a committee to look into it and find a solution.
Q. Coming back to the Shakti Scheme, fake news factories are running smear campaigns against the pro-women initiative. What is your take on it and also your opinion on the FIR registered against BJP IT Cell head Amit Malviya regarding the derogatory tweet against Rahul Gandhi?
A. The Shakti Scheme is a success story with about nine crore women utilising it. The BJP cannot digest any good initiatives by the Congress. They, with the help of their ‘WhatsApp universities’ and IT Cell, will upload some videos on social media spreading rumours about the good schemes by the Congress.
In the beginning also, the BJP adopted the same tactics. Even during the elections, they used the same gimmick, but the people of Karnataka showed them their place. It is a correct decision of the Congress IT Cell to complain against Amit Malviya, and get an FIR registered.
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