Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal says similar facilities may be offered to senior citizens and students in the near future

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday announced that women passengers in Delhi can now travel for free on public-run buses.

He said similar facilities may be offered to senior citizens and students in the near future after the Delhi government analysed the outcome of the current scheme which allowed free travel for women.

According to the scheme, conductors will distribute pink tickets with a face value of ₹10 each to women passengers for free-travel.

The government will reimburse the Delhi Transport Corporation based on the number of such tickets issued.

In his address through the recently-launched AK app, Mr. Kejriwal said the move would help in women empowerment by bridging the gender inequality that existed in society.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during a press conference on Monday. | Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

“Now women who had to drop out of schools and colleges because of high transportation costs don’t need to sacrifice their education. They can now take buses to good schools and colleges away from home. Similarly, women whose offices were far need not worry about the transportation cost,” Mr. Kejriwal said.

“All these steps cannot be taken at once. We will certainly do this too (free rides for senior citizens and students) but let us start with women and see the results, and based on the result we will deliberate on making these rides free for senior citizens and students too in future,” he said.

Late on Monday evening, the Delhi government notified an amendment to the Delhi Transport Corporation (Free and Concessional Passes) Regulations 1985 to enable the issuance of “Single Journey Free Travel Passes” — pink tickets — to women allowing free travel aboard DTC buses and buses operated by the Corporation under the cluster scheme.