Congress, BJP call Kejriwal's 'free' move a gimmick

The Opposition BJP and Congress termed the scheme by the Delhi Government as a 'gimmick'.

Though the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs did not give any official reaction at the announcement made by the Delhi Chief Minster, sources wondered as to how the scheme would be implemented.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) also did not make any official comment at the announcement by Mr Kejriwal.

"We will not comment on the announcement at present," a DMRC spokesperson said.

Making the announcement at a press conference here, Mr Kejriwal said the Delhi Government will bear cost for the scheme.

"Delhi government has decided to make metro and bus travel free for all the women of Delhi. Delhi government will bear all the expense of this scheme. Scheme will be implemented in upcoming 2 to 3 months, " Mr Kejriwal said.

The scheme, which is yet to get nod from the Union government, would cost the AAP government Rs 700 crore this year, the Delhi Chief Minister said.

"Women feel quite unsafe in the capital city. Women’s safety is top priority for the government of Delhi. We have taken two important decisions for the safety of women today," Mr Kejriwal said while addressing the press conference here.

Speaking on the safety of women in the city, he said, "When the daughter or sister or mother of a common man’s family goes out for their job or studies or anything, the family is always tense for their safety. They are tense because they fear that whether they will come back home safe or not. Public transport is considered the safest mode of travel.

"Taking this into account, we have decided to make travel free for women in metro, DTC buses and cluster buses so that the women use more and more of public transport. Many of our women don’t use metro as the fares are quite high. We have decided not to force the subsidy on anyone. There are a lot of woman who can afford the metro and bus fares, they can take a ticket for their travel. Those who are unable of buying the tickets, they should use the subsidy and travel for free. Those able to afford the tickets, should buy tickets, it would help others."

The CM said: "I have directed the officers to prepare a detailed plan for the free travel of women. The officers will prepare a plan on how and when it will be implemented in the DTC, Cluster and Metro. We will try to implement it in two to three months. We are also seeking suggestions of the citizens for the same. They can send their suggestions on delhiwomensafety@gmail.com. They can also send their suggestions on the following address, Chairman, DDC, 33 Shamnath Marg, Delhi – 54."

Speaking on the second decision taken on women’s safety, the Chief Minister said, "We have been trying to install CCTV cameras all over Delhi for the last more than 2 years. Tenders have been completed for 1.5 lakh CCTV cameras and survey for 70 thousand CCTV cameras has been done. Now, installation of the cameras will start from June 8. We hope that the installation of these cameras will be completed by December of this year. Another proposal of additional 1.4 lakh cameras will be passed this month. This will make the total number of CCTV cameras 2 lakh and 80 thousand. Apart from this, 1.5 lakh CCTV cameras are being installed in Delhi government schools. The process of installation of CCTV cameras in schools has started and will be completed in all schools by November this year."

Replying to a question on whether the scheme will lead to congestion, the Chief Minister said, "The DPR for the phase III of Delhi Metro estimated the ridership to be 40 lakh per day. In March 2017, the daily ridership of Delhi Metro was 28 lakh per day. However, after the metro fares were hiked, the ridership came down. Today, the ridership is 25 lakhs per day. So the point is the metro can cater to 40 lakh commuters per day and is running well below its capacity. Out of the 25 lakh commuters today, around 30 per cent are women. That means around 8 lakh woman are using the metro per day. If this scheme adds even 10 per cent women commuters, the additional load would be around 1 lakh per day. That will make the daily load on the metro of 26 lakh commuters. This is still below the ridership of 27 lakh per day in March 2017. So there is no question of congestion due to this scheme."

He further said, "The female workforce participation nationally is 27 per cent, however, it is only 11 per cent in Delhi. This makes it clear that the number of working women is quite low in Delhi. We hope that the scheme will encourage more and more of our women folk to go out to work."

Between the years of 2017 and 2019, the increase in the metro line is around 55 per cent. While the total length was 212 kilometres in the year of 2017, it has increased to 327 kilometres in 2019. However, the hike in the fares has led to the dip in the ridership.

Elaborating further about the scheme, Mr Kejriwal said, "This will help to prevent pollution and will also ensure women safety as we have already provided marshals and set up CCTVs in public transport."

Kejriwal said that the scheme will cost around Rs 700 to 800 crore.

"If the scheme is implemented by the month of August-September, the expenditure for this financial year would be around Rs 700 to 800 crore," he said.

Responding to another question, the Chief Minister said marshalls were available in all the DTC buses.

He also said, "Now marshals would also be available in the cluster system buses. I have ordered for the same today. Many women travelling in buses don’t know that there are marshals in the bus for their security and help. We will now have posters in the buses saying that there was a marshal in the bus for help and security and you can call them for any help."

On a question on new buses for Delhi, the Chief Minister said, "In the next 10-12 months, Delhi will have 3,000 new buses on the roads. The buses will start coming this month and 3000 would be completed by 10-12 months. All these buses will have CCTV installed in them."

The BJP termed the announcement by Mr Kejriwal a "gimmick".

BJP Delhi chief Manoj Tiwari called it a "futile" attempt to buy votes ahead of the Assembly elections.

Addressing the mediapersons, the BJP MP from North East Delhi constituency, Mr Tiwari said, "Mr Kejriwal is making a futile attempt to buy voters ahead of state polls. Now Mr Kejriwal will tell Delhi citizens, one bus will be at your front door."

"If Mr Kejriwal wants to do something good for the people, he must implement central government's Ayushman Bharat scheme," he said.

"If Mr Kejriwal doesn't launch Prime Minister Narendra Modi's housing or health schemes for the poor in Delhi, the BJP will surely do it in six-seven months later," he said.

Delhi BJP leader Vijay Goel said in a tweet, "Kejriwal government is awake now before the Delhi elections. Now he is reminded of the free travel in the metro, excessive fixed charge of electricity. The public is quite aware."

Meanwhile, the Congress wondered whether the scheme for free travel by women in Metro and DTC buses announced by the Delhi Government was 'implementable'.

Reacting to the announcement by the Delhi Chief minister, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) chief Sheila Dikshit, talking to UNI, said, "Let me see if Mr Kejriwal manages to implement the scheme, then I will give my reaction to it."

Reacting to the scheme, Delhi Congress leader and president of the Delhi Mahila Congress Sharmishtha Mukherjee, taking to micro-blogging site Twitter, said, "@ArvindKejriwal Pls provide safe, adequate & affordable public transport for ALL. Dont make promises you can’t fulfil on ur own(as in Metro),then go 4 another round of blamegame. As 4 DTC, augment d fleet & maximise route utilisation. Both has fallen pathetically in last 5 years."

"Wat happened 2 ur promises of CCTV & marshals in buses?Since last 5 years we hear dat new buses r coming but infact DTC fleet is reduced by 1400 buses.Metro is delayed 4 1st time. Women wud prefer safer,surer & more frequent availability of public transport rather than free rides," Ms Mukherjee said in a series of tweets.

"Nirbhaya was gang-raped in a bus. Whether free or paid, safety for women is not ensured. Get your priorities right & kindly ensure safety of women in the capital first. Free rides may get you votes, but it won’t in any way improve the security concerns of women in Delhi," she added.

Coming 10 days after the announcement of results of Lok Sabha polls, the AAP Government's announcement of free travel for women in Delhi metro and DTC buses is clearly aimed at wooing women voters in Delhi ahead of the Assembly elections in the state, scheduled to be held in February next year.

The Aam Aadmi Party had lost all the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi.

Image credit: Avishek Mitra/IBNS