A leading transport industry association on Monday appealed to the newly elected United Democratic Front government in Kerala to review its decision to introduce free travel for women in state-run Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses, claiming the move could badly hurt the private bus sector.
The All Kerala Bus Operators Organisation said the announcement had been made without consulting private bus operators and warned that it could destabilise the state’s public transport system while jeopardising the livelihoods of lakhs of employees working in the private bus industry.
Organisation General Secretary T Gopinathan described the decision as ‘unilateral’ and cautioned that private bus services could face collapse if women passengers shifted entirely to KSRTC buses because of the free travel scheme.
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“If women commuters move away from private buses due to free travel in KSRTC services, private operators may be left carrying mostly students. That would severely affect the sustainability of our operations,” he said. He stressed that the government should engage in discussions with private bus operators before implementing a policy with such far-reaching consequences.
“The government’s unilateral decision to provide free travel for women will weaken Kerala’s overall public transport sector. If this continues, the private bus industry itself could vanish overnight,” Gopinathan alleged. He further urged the government to introduce a special relief package for private bus operators to compensate for the likely impact of the proposed scheme.
Free bus travel for women in KSRTC services was one of the five guarantees promised by Rahul Gandhi during campaigning for the April 9 Assembly elections, in which the Congress-led UDF secured a decisive victory and returned to power in Kerala.
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