No conditions set for women's free travel in govt buses: Ramalinga Reddy
Bengaluru, May 30: Karnataka Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy on Tuesday reiterated that the bus travel for women will be free and there will be no conditions attached.
With people curious and anxious to see the five guarantees implemented in the state, which according to the ruling Congress’ estimate may cost the state exchequer at least Rs 50,000 crore annually, the Transport Minister said the free bus ride for women will not have any guidelines.
"We don’t have any guidelines. We have said it’s free (bus travel) for women. There are no criteria like working women or anyone else. It will be free for women who travel by the bus," the Minister told reporters during a press conference.
When it was brought to his notice that there are 3.5 crore women in the state, Reddy said, "Their travel will be free if they all opt for bus." When reporters repeatedly asked whether it will be free travel for women in all government buses, he said, "The final decision will be taken by the Cabinet. Our party has announced free bus travel for all women.” The Minister said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had sought details about the expenditure. Accordingly, the Principal Secretary of the Transport Department gathered all the information and shared it with the government.
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There are four state-owned transport corporations in Karnataka. They are Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation, North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation and Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation.
According to the details shared by Reddy, the cost of operations of four state-owned transport corporations during 2022-23 was Rs 12,750.49 crore. The traffic and other revenue details in the last fiscal was Rs 8,946.85 crore.
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UP: Tehsildar's vehicle hits biker, drags body for 30 km
Bahraich(UP), Dec 20: A government vehicle belonging to the tehsildar of Nanpara hit a biker and allegedly dragged his body for 30 kilometers.
The victim, identified as Narendra Kumar Haldar (35), a resident of Payagpur, was returning home when the accident occurred on the Nanpara-Bahraich road on Thursday evening. According to police, Haldar's body got entangled in the vehicle and was dragged for the entire distance, reaching the Nanpara Tehsil.
Naib Tehsildar Shailesh Kumar Awasthi, who is believed to be present in the vehicle at the time of the accident, has been recommended for suspension by District Magistrate Monika Rani. The vehicle's driver, Meraj Ahmed, has been arrested. Superintendent of Police Vrinda Shukla confirmed the incident and said, "It was confirmed that the body was dragged for 30 kilometers to Nanpara when the locations of the deceased Narendra Haldar and the tehsildar's driver Meraj Ahmed were tracked at the time of the accident."
Stating that the incident was a "big negligence", the officer added, "It is very unlikely that a body was stuck in the vehicle for 30 kilometers and no one came to know about it. It is possible that the vehicle was not stopped due to fear."
The officer said that a thorough investigation is underway to determine the exact circumstances of the accident. "Police are examining CCTV footage along the 30-kilometer route to reconstruct the sequence of events," said the SP.
In the police complaint lodge regarding the matter, the family members of the deceased have mentioned the vehicle of the tehsildar, police said.
District Magistrate Monika Rani said, "The matter of a car colliding with a bike came to notice. The Naib Tehsildar of Nanpara had come to Bahraich in the Tehsildar's car for some work and was returning to Nanpara. It has been learnt that a dead body got stuck with his car that drove till Nanpara Tehsil. According to the naib tehsildar, he was not aware of it. A recommendation has been made to suspend the naib tehsildar who was in the car."
