Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru/Udupi (MS)
Mangaluru/Udupi, Jun 13: Women passengers rushed to board KSRTC buses in twin districts in the wake of Shakti free bus travel scheme for women that was flagged off on Sunday.
NURM buses that move from city to outskirt areas were filled with girl students and employed women in the morning as well as evening.
Most of the KSRTC buses that go from Statebank to Puttur were full by the time they reached Amedkar Circle at Jyoti cinema theatre in the evening.
In Udupi too, many women were seen waiting for buses as they could not board them at Moodbidri, Karkala and Kundapur areas. In Udupi depot, 940 women travelled free of cost from Sunday afternoon to 10 pm.
Women, who usually used to travel by private buses, have begun to travel by KSRTC buses. From Tuesday more passengers are expected. Private buses are incurring heavy losses due to the free scheme.
Police and home guard personnel are deployed in all bus stands to avoid any kind of untoward incidents in the wake of the free travel scheme for women.
On Sunday, in total 5454 women travelled for free in KSRTC Mangaluru division. The value of tickets of their travel is Rs 190155. In Puttur division, from Sunday afternoon to night, 6240 women took the benefit of free bus travel. The value of the tickets given free was Rs 2.18 lac.