[humyum]

I am liking this idea, its just utilizing the under utilized Metro in Delhi, having a capacity of 40 lakhs per day to right now 25 lakh people using it why not get more people in?

Its going to cost the Delhi government 700 crore more per year for this for the ticket fares it will have to reimburse the metro guys and they can afford it, so why not?

[KrisTvpm]

Since this is a muddle-headed idea, would like to propose something to make it more...er, so !

Why not the incumbent CM make the rule such that on odd days only men can travel in public transport, and on even days only women can travel !?

That way, can ensure that no men/women are in the vehicle at the same time - LO, SAFETY !!!

[roby_dk]

Originally Posted by VVN

It is but then I am afraid it is needed. Don't get me wrong, I am not a pseudo feminist but even in this very forum, I have seen so many members associating the other half as 'Home Ministry' as if it was a fixed role. Why can't it be the other way round?

Sorry the definition of Home Ministry is not that they are supposed to work at home or not allowed to go out etc. It means the important things in our life are approved by them. Two closest woman in my life my mother and my wife were the key decision maker in the last two cars I purchased.

My first car Tata Safari, I cried like hell to get Black colour but it was merely disapproved by mother citing multiple reasons for black. Got it in pearl white.

6 years passed I got married in between, thought of getting Black Endeavour and wished my wife will approve this time. Same thing I was not able to get my choice of colour again.

I think the word Home ministry is referred in other way here not the way you thought.

[ani_meher]

Originally Posted by humyum

I am liking this idea, its just utilizing the under utilized Metro in Delhi, having a capacity of 40 lakhs per day to right now 25 lakh people using it why not get more people in?

Was money the factor due to which women were not travelling by public transport? I would rather have a highlight on safety than this unneeded charity.

The bashing is not due to the person, it is due to the ridiculousness of the idea itself, and no amount of whataboutism can bring sense to this.

[Vishal.R]

This might have adverse side effects for women such as they might be expected to settle for less pay or might be pushed for more traveling compared to their male counterparts.

[RaghuVis]

I am more curious to know how this is going to be implemented. Remember the announcement was not just for Metro but for Buses as well which is not covered in our thread.
Now implementing such schemes is an extremely tedious task and in all probability looks like a technical nightmare at least for Metro. Let's take each case.

DTC Buses
This right now is fully under control of state government so they don't need to go in for any political fight. They can simply stop asking money from women riders. In such a case, government is not going to get any idea of how much money they are going to lose. They just need to have a rough calculation of decrease in revenue and decide how much they are losing monthly. The loss will be higher than a direct subtraction since women ferrying buses is going to increase significantly with this announcement. I have several cousin's in Delhi who are pointing out the fact that at least one out of two buses in Delhi are private and that DTC has given a huge number of buses to contract for different private companies which helps in getting revenue. This model is followed almost everywhere in metro's these days anyways.

DMRC Buses
Well these are basically feeder buses which provide connectivity from Metro stations to different places. If I'm not wrong, these buses belong to DMRC which is a 50-50 tie up between State Government and Central Government. Since the Announcement was done by CM without getting approval from Central Government, we need to wait and see how they will sort of the revenue loss for Central government. Even if CM is ready to foot the money from state's fund, how are they going to come up with a figure.

Metro

Now this gets interesting in terms of complexity in implementation. Apart from State Government, Central government is also involved. During the announcement, CM said that he will not need permission from Central Government since all the loss are going to be compensated from State's fund. Now we know it's easier said than done. I am keen to see the implementation techniques that are going to suggested by committee in 2 weeks time for this proposal.

1)Are they going to color code the smart card to distinguish between male/female travelers?
2) Even if Color Coded, they can still be misused by men so they will need police to look into each swipe to ensure people are not misusing.
3) Another way to implement would be to give it as cash back. Again this is easier said than done. On what basis can cash back be done?
4) Easiest way to implement - Have separate queues for men and women and keep women lines always open without any swipe. Now to do this, you will need more police force in each and every station and every entry/exit points. But the biggest problem here is that there is no accountability. How is state government going to compensate if they don't know how many women traveled?
5) Also point to note that right now close to 25 million people spread across 3 states commute daily. THhis move will definitely increase ridership. I would suggest team-bhp folks to stay away form metro on implementation day/week for the chaos it is going to create.

All in all this is going to be one big discussion point (Politically more) for the next six months and is bound to get ugly if State and Center are not going to find a common ground. Most news channels are Delhi based, so we can expect those guys to hammer the heads of people watching news in coming months.(Thank God I stopped watching "these news channels").

One hopes better sense prevails to everyone. Looks like poor E Sreedharan is going to be hounded by media in coming weeks/months to get his opinion on this.

[NH08]

It is a great idea to increase women safety, as much great as was the odd-even formula for reducing pollution.

The policy makers estimated loss as Rs. 700 crore on account of this free service. But they forget one thing here, as aptly described by the urdu proverb 'maal e muft, dil e beraham' (freely got, lavishly spent), that the number of unnecessary travels will shoot up significantly.

I don't think DMRC will accept this idea. Another confrontation between State Govt. and Central Govt. is on the cards.

[kumaranurag]

Originally Posted by VVN

It is but then I am afraid it is needed. Don't get me wrong, I am not a pseudo feminist but even in this very forum, I have seen so many members associating the other half as 'Home Ministry' as if it was a fixed role. Why can't it be the other way round?

Situation of women is not going to improve by taking such idiotic actions. There's already an entire compartment reserved for women in Metro & even after that, 2 or 4 seats are reserved for women in every car of the train. Decision could have made sense if they actually did something for women's safety like providing a security personnel in each car.

This is just an act to get votes from the opposite gender & a foolish act I might add. Is this the "equality" we hear about these days? It wouldn't have been an issue if they decided to reduce the fare but making it absolutely free will eventually make it worse for the male travellers because in the end, someone is going to have to pay. Plus, it's going to attract a lot more female passengers & it'll be very difficult to travel for a male in my point of view because a lot of females likes to travel comfortably so they don't care about making a male passenger stand if they have to sit. I've been travelling in Metro for 2-3 years & I have experienced it so much that I don't even care to take a seat anymore.

[Chetan_Rao]

One may agree or disagree with this proposal six ways to Saturday and twice Sundays, justifiably so, but I find the whole 'vote-bank move' argument absurd, since I first heard it bandied about by a screeching newscaster on a 'prime-time news' show in the office cafeteria yesterday.

If populist measures by governments were rated on the Richter scale, this is a mild tremor that probably won't even register, yet the reaction is laughably disproportionate.

I know a majority of people on this forum probably have the privilege of not thinking much of a few rupees, but there's large chunks of our society that is financially desperate enough to jeopardize their own safety to save minuscule amounts whenever possible, and it's invariably the women of the house who carry the burden of this forced financial prudence. The commuter train station visible behind my high-rise balcony is a beehive of activity, with local and inter-city passenger trains depositing working women by the thousands every morning beginning 4 AM, a majority of whom walk to their destinations, some several kms away to save a few rupees in bus fare. The better half grew up in Ghaziabad (UP), where the availability (or lack of) safe public transportation was often a deciding factor from something as trivial as where one can or can't go for a night out, to life-changing decisions like what college one would enroll into. Even the availability of middle-class money couldn't mitigate the absolute lack of options.

This may not benefit the educated, well-earning, white collar working woman much, who probably won't mind the subsidy either way, but those aren't the target demographic, or so I'd like to think.

It's going to cost the public a fair bit, and criticism is justifiable, but it's at least not a free handout to people who don't need it, the kind of which we see handed out like candy at every opportunity by our overlords, irrespective of the flag they fly. Scant consolation, but we live in a country where a small percent picks up the tab for the dole handed out to large chunks, with no expectation of accountability.

Why the selective, disproportionate outrage?

[myavu]

I don't support this move. Earlier from Saket to Barakhamba Rd the fare was Rs.18/- and now it is 40 rupees. Delhi government should utilize that 700 Cr to bring the fares down and give the benefit to the public. I believe all the females traveling in the Metro or DTC can afford the fares. There was a time when I used Metro frequently. But not for last 16 months. This is purely an upcoming election gimmick.

[kumaranurag]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

One may agree or disagree with this proposal six ways to Saturday and twice Sundays, justifiably so, but I find the whole 'vote-bank move' argument absurd, since I first heard it bandied about by a screeching newscaster on a 'prime-time news' show in the office cafeteria yesterday.

There are men too in these states who are working for just 10k-15k in private sector who travels by Metro & other means of public transportation. Are they not worthy of free rides as well? Where's the equality? Are you trying to justify this decision just because it's related to the opposite sex? I know it's really beneficial for the ones who need it & the government has said that anyone who wants to buy a ticket can buy it but let's be real, if you were being offered a service for free, legally, would you still pay for it? like if you were traveling and somehow it's on your own will to pay the toll, would you pay or just travel smoothly? I think this is only going to be beneficial for a small portion of women, majority of those are gonna be the ones who can afford their fare.

Originally Posted by myavu

I don't support this move. Earlier from Saket to Barakhamba Rd the fare was Rs.18/- and now it is 40 rupees.

I've noticed that the majority of women in Metro have expensive phones etc. I wonder if they're going to buy tickets though.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by kumaranurag

There are men too in these states who are working for just 10k-15k in private sector who travels by Metro & other means of public transportation. Are they not worthy of free rides as well?

What percent of these men you mention are prone to harassment and unsafe travel conditions created by the 'opposite sex', compared to women? Your location says Ghaziabad, I'm pretty sure you can get a personal perspective from the women in your family/friends circle if they've ever traveled in a 'Vikram' and how safe they feel in those relative to the Metro, even if cost isn't a factor.

That bit aside, everyone who needs a helping hand should get it, gender notwithstanding. No debate there.

....Where's the equality?....

It will take far more than free metro/bus rides for women to turn that equation around to disadvantage men.

...Are you trying to justify this decision just because it's related to the opposite sex?

If you re-read my comment, the only two instances I use the word justifiable are when I refer to the criticism the move is getting, or people's right to disagree with it. Public money is being spent, so the public has a right to criticize how/where it's being spent. Not just this initiative, everything that's done with our tax rupees is fair game for debate and criticism in my opinion. I have a first-hand perspective in my home being married to someone who grew up around NCR, so I welcome any move that can take even one woman out of the unsafe 'Vikram' and onto the relatively safer Metro & DTDC buses. Whether they vote for the dignitary in question is irrelevant to me. Governments (should) serve everyone, not just those who voted for them. I've never seen a government-provided service around me that asks who I voted for before deciding my eligibility.

....I think this is only going to be beneficial for a small portion of women, majority of those are gonna be the ones who can afford their fare.

Swap 'women' with 'recipient', and it holds true for any subsidy/dole/freebie (call it whatever you want) our governments; local, state or central, past or present, hand out like candy.

If we applied the 'it will also benefit those that don't need it' standard to every subsidy, we'll need to shut down every single one of them.

[GTO]

Mod Note: A polite reminder of our rules that don't permit discussions on politics or politicians, so please avoid.

Back to the topic, I disagree in principle.

- Public transportation is already heavily subsidized in our country. Making it free is just setting a bad precedent. "Free" directly affects maintenance, future investments, expansion, government burdens etc.

We are probably the only country in the world where you can travel a distance of 10 km (e.g. Dadar to Churchgate local train) for 10 rupees!

- The Metro is among the best examples of good public transportation in India. We should respect it by paying a fair price for it. IMHO, the Delhi Metro tickets are well-priced.

- What next? Women drivers don't have to pay toll?

- Anything given for "free" isn't appreciated. There are many studies on this topic and it is certainly the case in India.

- For all that women talk about "equality", how is this equal then? If you want equality, live by the same rules that apply to men and pay the same fees.

[poloman]

The only way to improve safety of women in a place like Delhi is by occupying public spaces by more and more woman. In that aspect this move is good. The fear experienced by a woman who has to move from point A to B after dark is difficult for a man to even comprehend.


But is free travel in metro for woman introduced with right intentions? Any thing given free in this country has a tendency getting misused and open floodgates of such steps across the country. Can a developing country like ours afford free travel for woman across the country? Most of the public transport corporations will go bankrupt in that case. How much the cash strapped governments can subsidize?


I don't want to make any political comments, but everyone should have a look at this page and find out for themselves what is missing here and see the irony of such steps.
https://aamaadmiparty.org/delhi-gove...our-ministers/

[KrisTvpm]

If I as a female, belong to the (financially) weaker section of society, I'd have appreciated this sop just from a monetary angle, not from any "additional safety" that comes with not paying for my ticket.

But, if I've a Merc & BMW at home, just go out partying with my friends to a crowded area/mall in NCR along with 10 of my lady friends from similar-background -- and all of us can enjoy this freebie on metro -- would I appreciate it, heck no !

And btw what about LGBTQ people -- do they pay or not !?