Shakthi scheme: Teething troubles in free travel for women in Karnataka taking a toll on BMTC bus conductors

From repeatedly asking women passengers to show their ID cards, to tearing more tickets than before, and to simultaneously deal with the new norms of the government, the teething troubles are taking a toll on crew members. 

“On Monday evening, a young woman got on the bus and showed her scanned ID card on her phone for a free ticket. But her photo was not properly visible. I told her that I could not give her the zero ticket without seeing her photo on the ID card. She started arguing with me. Even the ladies around her told her that she should just buy a ticket, as the photo was not clear, but she did not budge for a long time,” said a Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) conductor on route 37. 

She has been working in BMTC for 22 years. Ever since the Shakthi scheme was implemented, she has begun to feel that the job has become more stressful than before due to these situations they have to deal with every day. “Everyone shows their ID cards on their phones. If we ask for photocopies, they ask us why we cannot accept soft copies. In a crowded bus, who will be responsible if their phone slips out of my hand? Moreover, it is difficult to read every person’s address and check their photos on phones, as we have to zoom in to see it clearly, which is time-consuming,” she explains. 

Her colleagues too feel that the pressure on conductors has gone up by many levels after the scheme kicked in. From repeatedly asking women passengers to show their ID cards, to tearing more tickets than before, and to simultaneously deal with the new norms of the government, the teething troubles have taken their toll on crew members. 

A BMTC conductor, who works on route 13, says, “Earlier, it used to be easier as at least 30% of women used to have passes. Now, we have to issue tickets to all of them, including school and college students, who had always been pass-holders. Earlier, we used to issue 40-50 tickets to women. Now, the number has gone up to 80-90 tickets. I am not exaggerating, but I have started experiencing pain in the arms in the last few weeks. I have been doing this job for 10 years, and I had never felt pressure like this.” 

Apart from this, BMTC employees also pointed out issues like staff crunch, lack of buses to handle the growing number of passengers, and how the onus of passengers travelling without tickets has completely fallen on the conductors. 

“Some women sit in buses without buying tickets. When the crowd is dense, conductors cannot keep an eye on every passenger. However, we received a circular that if a passenger travels without a ticket, they do not have to pay any penalty, but the conductor should bear the full responsibility,” said Chandrashekhar, leader of Karnataka State Road Transport Employees’ League. 

“While we welcome the scheme, these minor problems should be addressed by the Transport Department,” he added.