Image courtesy: @livehindustan.com
By Simran Kaur
Now that women no longer have to think about the costs of travel, it will open up doors to many avenues to them. No girl will be forced to drop out of school or college. The Aam Aadmi Party’s scheme under which women have access to free bus travel in Delhi is a welcome move for women empowerment.
The women of Delhi will become empowered to fulfill their dreams. This is not to suggest that the move will solve every problem, but I am sure it will be a very important step towards empowering women.
The savings made by women on travel will also help sustain households and give them legroom for other expenditures, especially in times of economic slowdown. Some may choose to spend it on increasing the quarter of milk they feed their children, others on purchasing books for them. Increased purchasing power has the potential to take the entire society along on a path to prosperity.
The thousands of crores of rupees our citizens collectively save every year because services like education, healthcare, water are free, is essentially money that flows back into the economy. It has created immense economic value for the city.
Improving women’s access to public transport will also make them feel safer. Mass transit around the world gives a sense of security to women, because of the sheer number of women travelling together.
When my cousin was a student at IIT Delhi, she would take the Yellow Line Metro to college. Even after she started working, we have always preferred her taking the Metro over a cab. I’m confident most parents of daughters feel the same.
Along with the free bus scheme, government has also deployed 13,000 bus marshals for all shifts. Delhi’s free buses are also the safest travel option for women now.
AAP’s historic win in Delhi made it to front pages of newspaper across India. Aam Aadmi Party, or common man’s party, whose pro-poor policies focused on fixing state-run schools and providing cheap electricity, free health care and bus transport for women during its five years in power, rolled out in their favour.
Gyann Loaded 