House also passed ₹142 crore for marshals in buses

The Delhi Assembly on Monday passed Supplementary Demands for Grants of ₹290 crore for a government scheme to provide free rides to women in city buses and metro trains.

The Assembly also passed ₹142 crore for marshals in buses and ₹47 crore for RRTS corridors. On June 3, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced that the government is planning to make travel for women free in buses and metro trains.

On Monday, Finance Minister Manish Sisodia said the Cabinet is yet to approve the scheme. “In metro, they will have to adapt their systems, which will take time. In buses, it will happen soon,” he said while presenting the Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2019-2020.

Of the ₹290 crore, ₹140 crore is for free rides for women in buses and ₹150 crore for rides in metro trains, the Minister said.

Later, he told the reporters that though the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is not ready with the plan, the Assembly has passed the funds to avoid any crunch. Public Works Department Minister Satyendar Jain said the government has floated a tender for 1.4 lakh more CCTV cameras. The government plans to install a total of 2.8 lakh CCTV cameras on the streets and the installation of 1.4 lakh CCTVs is under way.

On this, Mr. Sisodia said the CCTVs have helped reduce thefts ranging from cars on streets to pencils at schools and even sandals outside temples.

Ventilators not working

Forty-four ventilators in government-run hospitals are not working, the Department of Health and Family Welfare said in a written answer in the Assembly, responding to a question by BJP MLA O.P. Sharma.

AAP Seelampur MLA Ishraq Khan on Monday spoke at the House for the first time in four and a half years.

“Speaker, thanks a lot for giving me a chance to speak under (Rule) 280,” Mr. Khan said, adding that there were no parking facilities for people who live in smaller plots. “People in my Assembly are very poor and there is no college for women. They drop out after Class XII,” he said.