‘Shakti’ completes one year: 13.59 crore women received free rides in Mysuru

An average of 4.5 lakh women have been availing free bus rides in KSRTC buses in Mysuru urban and rural divisions since the roll out of Shakti – the first guarantee scheme of the Congress government.

An average of 4.5 lakh women have been availing free bus rides in KSRTC buses in Mysuru urban and rural divisions since the roll out of Shakti – the first guarantee scheme of the Congress government.

As the guarantee scheme completed one year of its launch, nearly 13.59 crore women in Mysuru have made use of the benefits of the scheme, availing free rides in buses on the inter-city and intra-city routes.

On June 11, 2023, the free bus rides were launched and Mysuru divisions have reported overwhelming response since the roll out. The revenue earned by the divisions by offering free rides was ₹315.6 crore in the last year.

Sources in the KSRTC here said the passenger load continues to rise and about 4.5 lakh women were availing the free rides almost daily. The Shakti scheme led to the strengthening of the existing fleet with the rise in demand for services, even on some routes where the buses had not operated or the reach was minimal.

Also, thanks to Shakti, the divisions got about 100 new buses, including 50 buses for the urban division which has to cater to the needs of students on the school and college routes.

The number of schedules have also gone up since the launch since the urban division alone operates 520 schedules to cater to the passenger rush. Since January this year, the schedules have gone up by 30 to meet the commuters’ demands, especially students.

The urban division has a fleet of 583 buses, including the newly-inducted hi-tech buses. The addition of new buses has eased the pressure on the KSRTC authorities since the passenger load continues to be on the rise.