Shakti Scheme sees its 500th crore passenger, total ticket value so far Rs 12,669 crore

Bengaluru: Shakti Scheme, an initiative by the Congress-led Government of Karnataka aimed at ensuring easier mobility for women, reached a milestone on July 14, 2025 by witnessing 500 crore  trips by women passengers. 

The government has claimed that by offering free bus travel to women, the scheme has significantly contributed to the economic, social, educational and professional empowerment of women across the state.

In celebration of the 500-crore trip milestone, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy DK Shivakumar hit the ground running, travelling along with passengers on the day.  

So far, the total ticket value under the scheme has amounted to ₹12,669 crore.

Under this scheme, women residents of Karnataka, including students and transgenders can travel free of cost across the state in city, ordinary and express buses.

Before the launch of the Shakti Scheme, around 85.84 lakh passengers were travelling by bus daily,  

Now, this number has risen to 1.17 crore passengers per day.

To meet the rising demand, the government accorded approval for induction of new buses and initiated large-scale recruitment, which had previously been halted.

In the past two years, approval was granted for the addition of 5,800 new buses, out of which 5,049 buses have already been deployed across the four transport corporations.

Permission was also given to fill 9,000 vacancies. So far, 6,700 new appointments and 1,000 compassionate appointments have been completed, amounting to 10,000 new recruitments.

The number of scheduled services has increased from 21,164 (pre-Shakti) to 23,635 (post-Shakti), government figures reveal. 

The total number of buses has increased from 23,948 to 26,130, including the replacement of 2,828 old vehicles.

Over the last two years, Karnataka’s four state-run transport corporations have collectively received 185 national and international awards, showcasing excellence in public transport.

Special bus pooja ceremonies were recently conducted at major city, taluk and district bus terminals, in celebration of these milestones. 

The events included traditional rituals and sweet distribution among others. 

The flip side

However, there is another side to the story, as always. 

Many people, especially members of the opposite gender, have criticised this scheme, calling in discriminatory and in favour of one gender. 

They allege that taxpayer money is being used by the government to please one particular gender, irrespective of personal situation, at the cost of all honest taxpaying citizens. 

This, they believe, goes against the spirit of the Constitution, which proscribes discrimination based on gender. 

They feel that the government could have calibrated the scheme in such a way that it benefits women who cannot afford regular bus travel — such as senior citizens and students — instead of making travel free uniformly across the board. 

They opined that while a welfarist approach to governance was always welcome, making it applicable to all women without considering income situation showed bias, which seemed unfair at the outset.