The Shakti scheme, which provides free bus rides for women, was expected to benefit over three lakh strong, mostly women, garment workforce in the city. However, an on-ground reality check reveals that the garment workers who have been depending on private transport facilities like tempos, and share autos, haven’t shifted to Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses. This is because most of the areas where garment workers live are sparsely serviced by BMTC buses.
Vimala Shekar, a garment worker who stays near Pipeline Road in Bagalagunte in North Bengaluru, has to travel to Peenya where she works in a garment factory everyday in a tempo van paying ₹15, Ms. Vimala says the recently launched Shakti scheme will not benefit her because the area she stays in has no BMTC bus connectivity.
This is not just Ms. Vimala’s problem, as most of the garment workers stay in areas either on the outskirts of the city or in congested areas not serviced by BMTC. This has led to many of the women working in the garment sector effectively not benefitting from the scheme. Garment workers earlier had protested that BMTC bus fares were unaffordable to them.
