RTCs to procure 1,894 buses to meet Shakti scheme demand

As the Karnataka government launched the Shakti scheme, the four corporations have planned to procure 1,894 new buses this year

As the Karnataka government launched the Shakti scheme, to allow women to travel for free in State-run road transport corporations (RTCs), the four corporations (the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, the BMTC, the NWKRTC, and the KKRTC) have planned to procure 1,894 new buses this year.

The move comes after the public demanded more buses to successfully implement the scheme which may make more people use buses since it is free.

“It has been planned by the corporations to procure 1,894 buses during the year. Nevertheless, after implementation of the Shakti scheme, action will be taken to induct more buses as per demand,” the KSRTC said in a release.

Currently, the four RTCs operate 23,989 buses across the State with an average run of 65.02 lakh kilometres per day.

Apart from this, the RTCs are planning to recruit more personnel as per the need. It is expected that women passengers may increase on some routes requiring more buses. “In such cases, the timetable will be revised and schedules rationalised to meet this demand,” the KSRTC added in the release.

All four RTCs have 1,04,450 staff employed.