News Desk |
Arrangements are underway to provide free public transport to millions of women in New Delhi, says Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
CM Kejriwal said the government is striving to make public transport safer for women in the capital New Delhi, which is notorious for being a dangerous city for the women.
Good move from @AAPDelhi @ArvindKejriwal on providing free public transport to the women in Delhi. They shall benefit highly from this move.
— Abhishek Verma (@archer_abhishek) June 4, 2019
The move, which is yet to be cleared by the center, will be launched in three months with a cost of INR.700 this year, and would simultaneously improve its security and reduce traffic pollution in the city.
“Women will be allowed to travel free of cost so that they have safe travel experience,” Kejriwal told a press conference.
Kejriwal, the head of Aam Aadmi Party, won a landslide victory in the 2015 state elections when he offered free drinking water, subsidized electricity, healthcare and better education
Kejriwal added that the New Delhi government is looking forward to installing 150,000 CCTV cameras in the city this year.
New Delhi is home to 20 million people as stated by UN reports and faces a severe problem of traffic congestion and air pollution.
Arvind Kejriwal’s opponents have, however, targeted him for luring people with ‘announcements’ to sustain his victory in the upcoming state elections to be held in January.
Read more: Crimes against Women plague India
They remarked that currently it is just an announcement and it is uncertain as to how much time it will take to materialize the plan.
https://twitter.com/ippatel/status/1135456102168969216
Several women, citing the horrific gang rape of Nirbhaya in 2012 in a bus, demanded that women do not need free public transport but a safer environment in the city to travel.
Hate to remind this, but Nirbhaya was gang raped in a bus in Delhi. At that time the country didn’t protest over free rides for the women but for making the capital safe for its women to be able to take a bus or metro at any time of the day. Get your priorities right!
— Priyanka Chaturvedi🇮🇳 (@priyankac19) June 3, 2019
Kejriwal, the head of Aam Aadmi Party, won a landslide victory in the 2015 state elections when he offered free drinking water, subsidized electricity, healthcare and better education for the poor. It also promised to improve women’s security after the 2012 gang rape.
Arvind Kejriwal is expected to face tough competition with Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in the next state elections.