SPOTLIGHT
THEArvindKejriwal-ledAam
AadmiParty(AAP)government in
Delhiannouncedon June3 thatit
wasconsidering makingDelhiMetro
andDelhi Transport Corporation
(DTC)buses free-to-ride for women.
Whilemostwomen’sorganisations
andwomencommutersin general
welcomed the move,it hasattracted
criticismfromthe AAP’spoliticalad-
versaries whohavedescribedit as an
act of sheerpopulismwithan eye to
the Assembly election in Delhi,
scheduled to be heldearlynextyear.
UnionMinister for Housingand
UrbanAffairsHardeepSinghPuriof
theBharatiya JanataParty (BJP)
wasamongthefirst onesto de-
nounce theproposal,callingit “dis-
ruptionist”. “Mr Kejriwal has
confused peoplebecause thisis not
howyougiveschemes. Central gov-
ernment needs to be on board.
DMRC[DelhiMetroRailCorpora-
tion]didn’tgetanyproposalfrom
the Delhigovernment. Delhigovern-
mentalreadyis runningout of funds;
theyarein debt.I don'tknowhow
Kejriwal is planningto giveMetro
ridesfor free,”theMinister said,
sharingtheapprehensionsof many
people, including women, whoare
wonderingwhether thescheme is
economicallyviableto implement.
TheDelhigovernment hasmade
it clearthatit is notbanking on the
Centreto bear thebudget deficit
likelyto arisefroma dropin revenues
of the DMRC,which early estimates
put at anything between Rs.700
croreandRs.1,100crorea year.The
AAPvociferouslyjustified thean-
nouncement,arguingthatit would
encourage morewomento usethe
MetroandDTCbuses,considered
saferthansharedautosor cabs.
“Thesafetyof women is the most
important for the AAPgovernment.
Keeping in mindthesafetyof wo-
men,thegovernmenthasdecided
thatin Delhiall DelhiTransportCor-
poration andclusterbusesandthe
DelhiMetrowillbe freefor women
so thatmaximumnumberof women
can use public transport. Public
transportis saidto be thesafestfor
women. Dueto the increasein Metro
prices,theyare notableto usethese
services,”Kejriwal toldthemedia
recently.
Yet,economic concernsremain.
Theannual budgethasbeenpassed,
withthe funding for specific depart-
mentsalreadyearmarked.Accord-
ing to the Delhigovernment’sinitial
assessment,it willhaveto bearan
additionalexpenseof aroundRs.800
croreto sponsorthe farewaiver. One
of the optionsavailableto the Delhi
governmentis to usetheConsolid-
atedFundof Delhifor the additional
expenditure, butthatwouldrequire
theapprovalof theCentral govern-
ment.It is improbablethatthe BJP,
whichregistereda leadin 65 of 70
Assembly segments in thejustcon-
cluded parliamentary election,
wouldagreeto whatis likely to bring
windfall electoral gainsfor its closest
adversary in the Unionterritory.TheDelhigovernment alsofaces
a likelyroadblock fromtheDMRC
board,whose13 directorstakea call
on matterspertainingto theDelhi
Metro.In the past,the AAPhas been
unableto gettheDMRCboardto
reduce the Metro fares. Delhi’s
DeputyChiefMinisterManishSiso-
dia hasstatedon previous occasions
thattheAAPgovernmentwishesto
slashMetro faresby 25 to 30 per
cent,but the DMRCboardhas seem-
inglygiventhisa red light.
Severalwomen’s organisations
havewelcomedthefarewaiverpro-
posal.Theirargumentis thatwomen
arenotequalbeneficiariesof eco-
nomicdevelopment and are still
strugglingforequalpayforequal
work.MariamDhawale,generalsec-
retaryof theAllIndiaDemocratic
Women’sAssociation, saidthatwo-
menwere the “worsthit by economic
policies”andtheyneeded somein-
centives.“It is nowofficialthatthe
unemploymentratein ourcountryis
at a 45-yearlow.Whathasescaped
noticeis the factthatwomen are far
moreat the receivingendas a result
of loss of jobs. They have been
pushedto theunorganised sector
whereexploitation is veryhigh.In
anycase, thegender-basedemploy-
mentratiois tiltedheavily against
women.In thisscenario, anyeco-A free ride
The Delhigovernmentseemsdeterminedto
implement itsproposaltomaketravelon the
MetroandDTCbusesfreefor women
notwithstandingthemanyquestionsbeing
raised.BYANANDOBHAKTO