Shakti gladdens hearts but issues dogging scheme sadden women | Parami News

Akkayyamma and her 29-year-old daughter Pavithra from Nippani in Belagavi district in North Karnataka travelled approximately 600 km to Kukke Subrahmanya temple in Dakshina Kannada district in the south. They made the journey to perform a special ritual recommended by an astrologer for their family at this temple. But thanks to the Karnataka government’s Shakti scheme that provides free travel for women on State-run buses, they travelled for free.

Ten women from Kalaburagi district, which is visiting various temples in the coastal and South Karnataka regions for the first time. Were at Dharmasthala renowned temple town of Dakshina Kannada District. “If it wasn’t for Shakti Programme we would never have been able to go all way to far pilgrimage centre like Dharmasthala,” said Kamala Imdapur who is one of them.

KSRTC bus conductor verifying ID cards of female passengers in a bus outside a place of worship located at Dharmasthala temple town, Dakshina Kannada District.

The team had visited Sringeri Sharadamba temple, Udupi Krishna temple. Annapoorneshwari temple at Horanadu and Kollur Mookambika temple before reaching Dharmasthala accompanied by two men. They are going to finish their trip with a visit to Kukke Subrahmanya Temple before returning back home to Kalaburagi.

But as lakhs of people from other districts of North Karnataka are flocking to Dakshina Kannada. The Shakti scheme is hardly benefiting locals because private buses operators monopolize well-connected routes with¬in the district. Many villages do not have adequate bus connectivity.

It does not work only in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Malnad districts like Kodagu. Shivamogga and Chikkamagaluru where women cannot benefit from it due to lack of a government bus services and monopoly of private buses; on the whole there are very few government owned buses.

Again, in Shivamogga, Shakti scheme is not beneficial for girls and women in places lacking KRSTC (Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation). Services such as Sahakar Sarige which operated as a cooperative and was closed down during COVID-19 pandemic due losses. It used to serve the whole rural areas throughout the district. This led to lack of busses in many villages.

But the opposite is happening in Shakti scheme of the State. Old Mysore region where women are benefitting from it because of good government bus connectivity. Better urban and rural bus services are available in Bengaluru city. Bengaluru Rural district, Mysuru, Mandya, Chamarajanagar, Hassan, Tumakuru and Kolar amongst other districts. There exist a few private operators but majority of women passengers rely on government buses.

The women working in garment factories mostly have crowded at Mysuru Road BMTC bus stand in Bengaluru.

Rani H.K., a garments worker who resides near Pipeline Road at Bagalagunte in North Bengaluru travels to Peenya (5 km) every day where she works. “During that time I would travel using tempos but now there is free bus service so I journey for free saving thousands of rupees each month”. She explained stating that she uses that money saved for her child’s school fees with an aim to see him become a doctor.

This IT sector employee Sangeetha Bhat stays in BTM Layout south Bangalore daily trips to office which is located in Electronics City using a free service by bus. “Despite the crowds involved we find the free bus scheme to be highly beneficial as it’s been reaching out even to many underprivileged while traveling about them”. Nonetheless what worries me most is having just enough buses only. The expansion of its fleet should also be a consideration made by the government”.

In North Karnataka there are no private bus operators and poor public transport systems. However this does not mean that there are enough buses.

Nagaveni M., a homemaker who hails from Basavanakatti in Haveri district has finally visited Saundatti temple town situated in Belagavi district where she went to pay homage to Saundatti Yellamma. Prior to this journey nagaveni had desired going to the town for five years. “We went to that temple with my husband and two children because I was praying for this child’s health since birth. It turned out to be very helpful as we managed to save some money using free bus scheme,” she said.

But Nagaveni had a long wait at Haveri before a bus could take her back home because there were few buses available and also overcrowded. “The free travel experience wasn’t pleasant though as the bus was very crowd. The government should consider providing more buses for better comfort”. I travelled on that buss holding my one year old baby in my hands for over an hour in a crowded bus she said.

Quasim Nadaf, a flower cultivator from Saundatti, said “The plan is beneficial to local merchants. Our demand of puja flowers like marigold has increased two-fold within a year. In addition it has also increased the earnings of local auto and taxi drivers because women. Who often come in groups are going around the nearby tourist places such as Navilu Teertha dam.”

An official from the temple committee said that “Saundatti is one of the temples under Endowment Department with very high footfall. The average number of pilgrims visiting here yearly is 3 crores. Nevertheless, by the close of 2022 this had fallen to about 1.2 crore. Although we lack day-to-day figures I feel this would be around twice or thrice higher than last year.”

Women at Dharmasthala KSRTC bus stand in Dakshina Kannada district.

Shakti scheme boosts GST; 2,300 buses added: Minister

A recent study conducted by State-run Fiscal Policy Institute says that Shakti scheme is contributing towards increase in Karnataka’s GST collection and expansion women labour force participation.

From June last year when it was launch to March this year. Karnataka’s GST collection has reportedly grown by ₹309.64 crore. This rise results from savings women make through the plan which they spend on other consumption activities thus allowing government to get some revenue as indicated in their study.

However there have been complaints on shortage of buses and congestion that are yet to be addressed by the government. Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy According to The Hindu: “This has been an incredibly successful initiative over the past year.” While open to all women, its main objective is expanding female labor force participation focusing on improving conditions for poor and casual employees. Which we have achieved.”

Clarifying concerns regarding inadequate buses and connectivity Mr Reddy stated that. “During this period we have considerably increased our bus fleet. Since the launch of this free travel scheme, we have introduced 2, 300 new buses in the four transport corporations. Moreover, we are planning to add more buses to our fleet soon so that every person can take advantage of this program and improve connectivity.”