[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by GTO

[b]....

- 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.

A very 'urban' perspective, if I may say so, which inherently assumes the recipient has a voice in the decision.

A good chunk of potential beneficiaries of this 'freebie' probably won't be able to tell you what social media is, forget having ever protested for 'equality'. Most of the the demographic I refer to are probably too busy scratching and clawing just to survive day-to-day, and are far from even considering what equality actually means to them, never mind protesting for and demanding it.

Far broader social discussion, off-topic for this thread but one needs to look at things in context.

I'm not for the decision either, because I don't believe it's the right way to address either safety or lack of viable/safe transport options beyond a certain point on commute routes, but I consider it a far lesser evil in a country that hands out pointless largesse on the taxpayer dime far too often.

I look forward to the thread about the next freebie announced where you and I, tax-paying Joe Nobody, pick up the tab.

P.S. I wonder if anyone from the outraged bunch actually bothered to get the perspective of an actual beneficiary, say, a factory worker who takes several hours and multiple modes of transport to reach a workplace in the middle of nowhere and back, every single day, and what she thinks of it. She'll probably be amused about the whole hoo-ha.

All I see is keyboard warrior men on one side complaining about equality, and a bunch of urban women on the other, complaining about the injustice of the accusation and how they didn't want or ask for it. All the while the factory worker in question is silently grinding through her day, no media mikes in her face and no time to tweet, FB or Insta her outrage.

[Storm2.0]

I think all the points I could think of have been highlighted by various members of this forum.

Providing such freebies to women is like insulting them. It's like indirectly telling them that they are inferior to men and they need crutches for each and everything.

One should understand that no service comes for free. If women riders contribute to x% of revenue to the Delhi Metro, when the govt waives off fair for women, from where do you expect them to compensate for this lost revenue? It may not be done by directly increasing the fare for male travelers. Instead the Delhi govt may increase certain taxes or other fares to compensate for their free rides. At that time the same woman who is given a free ride on metro will unknowingly end up paying for it in the form of increased cost for other services such as water supply, electricity, road taxes, property taxes etc.

And I don't think all women are incapable of affording a metro ride. How will the government make sure that the benefit is being passed on to the write section of the society.

Many Indians love any service that is offered to them for free and therefore many will be applauding for this move stating baseless reasons to justify it.
Also giving such benefits just on the basis of gender will create and imbalance in the society and will only add fuel to Men vs Women war.

Also to make up for the lost revenue the govt will resort to decreasing the quality of transportation services Eg. poor maintenance, lack of cleanliness, overcrowding due to shortage of bus/metro services, lack of security etc.

[LiCoO2]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

A very 'urban' perspective, if I may say so, which inherently assumes the recipient has a voice in the decision.
.

Well, Delhi is pretty urban. It's about 85% urban. And most of the industries where poor people work are not even in Delhi or are at the outskirts.

If the argument here is that poor women need help with public transportation than they should make it free for them only. This can be done by either giving them free bus passes or monthly travel allowances directly deposited to their bank accounts. I am not sure why everyone needs to get subsidised.

However, the reason why people are angry is that this decision does not in any way fix the real problems with public transportation. Buses are overcrowded, have no safety mechanisms such as CCTV cameras or are not available on the desired routes. Even the metro doesn't go everywhere. And on most busy routes such as yellow and blue line, they overcrowded as hell.

If they want to make them safe for women, they should add more buses, install CCTV cameras, and deploy private guards or marshals as Delhi police are not under their control. For the metro, they can increase the budget for CISF and ask them for more soldiers.

The 700 crore estimate is the lowest estimate and it can and will go way higher than that.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by LiCoO2

Well, Delhi is pretty urban. It's about 85% urban. And most of the industries where poor people work are not even in Delhi or are at the outskirts.

Please read the comment in the context it was written. I was referring to GTO's comment about women demanding equality being an urban dweller's perspective, not literal rural/urban split of the NCR area.

...If the argument here is that poor women need help with public transportation.....

All women (and men, and every other gender) need help with safe public transportation options. My well-educated, decently well-to-do better half struggles with the same poor options the moment she reaches the end point of Metro coverage towards her home. I'm equally vulnerable when I commute late to that area.

Freebies won't solve those issues, precisely why I said this in my previous comment:

I'm not for the decision either, because I don't believe it's the right way to address either safety or lack of viable/safe transport options beyond a certain point on commute routes...

Delhi needs to do a lot on this subject, but getting women off unsafe modes of transport can be a good start, and something worth subsidizing while a more comprehensive long-term solution is implemented. Sitting around to find the perfect solution that has unanimous support on day 1 will lead to zero action on the ground.

[humyum]

Originally Posted by ani_meher

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.

The women who are not travelling on metro's because of money will not be the one's on social media yelling how good the move for them is, its not always the rich or the one's who can afford who get into trouble while travelling alone in Delhi, most of the cases are against the poor. Imagine this, a maid, someone who works in a shop as a help, sweeper, poor strata of women government workers etc etc, they will now travel by metro which is amazing.

I travel by metro everyday to work since a month in Mumbai, I hardly find the people who are from the poor section of the society ever travel in it (Not judging anyone's wealth but since this is a debate I have to get this point in), and this is Mumbai we are talking about, atleast now the women will get to travel in a metro along with the other modes of transport they have made free, this is amazing, it even fits the budget of the Delhi Government, so why not?

[Slick]

I think its a good move, The implementation will decide if it's a success.

If it sounds ridiculous, it's the situation that is ridiculous that such a policy has to be implemented.


Delhi Government does not control the Delhi police, so improving safe using police is out of question.
I see a challenge in the implementation though, where the bus conductor might steal money under the pretext of the subsidy, or something thereabouts.

I am from Mumbai and hence unaware of the ground reality except for the ghastly news that I see about rapes in the capital.
So if there are any avenues where this money can be used instead for a better cause, please enlighten.
As far as I know Delhi Government is debt free.

That said, I do sincerely hope that the Central Government improves women's safety as they control the police.


Edit: Read @LiCoO2 comments, and I see that public transport system itself needs addressing.

-Slick

[Aravind_M92]

This move is like Tamil Nadu's government giving out freebies to people and people getting excited on receiving them, not realising that it's their own tax money which wasn't utilised for providing the base needs and necessities rather utilised to give out sub par products which last like those "election" roads! Don't we all get excited on "freebies"! I too was against those stuff and later realised that it too was my money and why not utilise it. Rather get something than nothing!
Rather than cutting out bus fares, why not increase frequency or introduce women only bus service wherein they can include women drivers and conductors. That's a true step towards gender equality. So hopefully the mass mentality does change regarding freebies and take a step towards progress!
I do have a small suggestion for elections. In our country, majority of voters are from the unskilled labourers section. I work at a rural health setup. The mentality of the voting community out here is rather simple. Get money from all the parties and vote for the one that hands out maximum amount! These people didn't bother to hear about any election manifesto. I suggest that vote points should based on the person's education and work background for eg. the vote of a IAS cadre officer should hold more value than that of an unskilled worker. Thus decision would become a bit more valuable. Yes this would rise a question on inequality but how else can we have fair decisions? When in India, elections take place at such vast levels, this implication is possible. Hopefully this scenario changes in future.

[VVN]

Originally Posted by GTO

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


- 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.

Absolutely. When it comes to paying, it has to be the same. But equality in terms of reserved compartments etc is just not possible in India. I myself have witnessed how women get groped and stared at in trains, metros and buses during rush hour or otherwise. The free ticket thing is certainly a political gimmick but equality in all aspects is probably a bit too soon.

[jailbird_fynix]

On a lighter note, I won't be surprised if this starts happening.

[bigron]

Its a simple populist move that is a result of multitude factors at various levels.
Firstly, with the Delhi elections next year, the government needs to start doling freebies and goodies to start the 'for the people' sentiment that every ruling government needs to show at some point. Every government does it so nothing new.

Secondly, no government scheme is ever free. If one section is given a subsidiary another section is paying for that subsidiary either directly or in directly. ( I am not going to talk about the fact that whether it should be even made free for the opposite gender in the first place as this is not the correct forum for it).
Thirdly, the un conventional political and administrative structure of Delhi makes it very hard for the ruling government to have their say on the most important aspects of state administration like policing and law & order. Its hard to run a state when the state police is not directly under you.

Lastly, the geographical nature of the state and its financial infrastructure exposes it to an almost endless entry and exit of outsiders.

The Sitting CM knows there is a problem of safety. He wants to do something about it because it looks very bad on his resume. Unfortunately, with the current scheme of things thinking out of the box is all he can do. Now whether those actions get you the desired results is another thing.

[Ranabegins]

I think this is just a political stunt, the CM knows that this is never going to move forward as he is going to be opposed by the other half that controls the Metro. In the end a blame game will be played saying we wanted to do something but we were not allowed to.

Delhi metro is priced very well and it is one of the finest examples of good public transport in the country. Making this service free isn't a idea that I approve.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by ValarMorghulis

Short sighted and foolish decision. Instead the money earned could be used to deploy more police and improve security.

That is technically not possible I think. Unless Delhi police has now started answering to Delhi Government.

[superbad]

Ridiculous, populist move.
Firstly, anybody saying Delhi Metro is under utilized needs to get a reality check. 70% of the routes are packed to the hilt/over crowded. The rest 30% may be under utilized.
If safety is paramount, you increase the number of police personnel, CCTVs, & not simply increase the number of passengers to lull everybody into a false sense of security. If more crowds means greater safety, India would be the second safest country in the world.
If Delhi govt can afford to reimburse the revenue lost, perhaps that should've been spent on developing new routes, increased police patrolling etc.
Politics turns intellectuals into numbskulls, is what I've realised.

[.sushilkumar]

A bit old articles but the way it works in india, i am sure not much have improved. So you got to be double careful when travelling with famed Delhi Metro that they get free rides as well to rob people.

90% pickpockets at Delhi Metro are women, be careful at these 8 stations: CISF

and a recent one in Jan 2019

Delhi: 94% of pickpockets caught in metro trains were women

On a serious note, They need to improve the infrastructure in terms of available buses & last mile connectivity. Metro is still a very safe form of public transport and womens are anyways safe inside metro. Problem starts after getting out of station & Inside over crowded buses where they were supposed to appoint marshal in every buses for women safety but that never happened.

[carmayogi]

Originally Posted by ValarMorghulis

Short sighted and foolish decision. Instead the money earned could be used to deploy more police and improve security.

The Delhi govt does not control Delhi Police, something that Kejri hasn't shied away from repeatedly complaining about.