Janjivan Buraeu/ New Delhi : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said his government proposed to make metro and bus travel free for women in the national capital.
The proposal would be implemented within two to three months, he said.
The move comes ahead of the assembly elections scheduled early next year.
“Women will be given free rides in DTC, cluster buses and the Delhi Metro. The government will bear their travel expenses,” Kejriwal said at a press conference.
For the remaining part of this financial year, the cost of this comes to Rs 700 crore to Rs 800 crore, he said.
Kejriwal said he had asked officials to study the proposal. The government has also sought feedback from the public.
Officers had been given a week to prepare a detailed report after which a proposal would be brought in the cabinet, he said.
The step would not lead to congestion in the Delhi Metro, as the daily commuters would increase by just one lakh. Currently, 25 lakh people travelled by metro daily, he said.
He said his government accorded top priority to women safety and had passed a tender to install 1.5 lakh CCTV cameras across the city.
“A survey for 70,000 CCTVs has been completed and these will be installed by December. A proposal for another 1.4 lakh cameras in under consideration,” he said.
As many as 1.5 lakh CCTV cameras would be installed in government-run schools by November, Kejriwal added.
At a public meeting on Saturday, the Chief Minister had said his government was considering to make metro and bus travels free for women in Delhi “to encourage them to use public transport”.
Kejriwal had said his government is in touch with the city’s power regulator to bring down fixed charge component of electricity bill.
