A crisis on wheels in Kerala

The Priyadarshini free bus ride scheme for women in State-owned buses, launched by the Congress-led Kerala government hardly a month ago, has been criticised for leading to social unrest, the latest being a call to strike by private bus operators. The scheme, a poll promise of the State government, had raised concerns about its sustainability even during the days of election campaigning.

One of the criticisms was about its financial viability; many feared that the scheme would push the ailing State public transport entity, the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), into a debt trap beyond redemption.

The current financial woes of the Corporation include its huge accumulated loss and the delay in payment of salaries and pensions which has forced employees as well as pensioners to drag the KSRTC to court. Some even resorted to the extreme step of ending their lives as the Corporation could not ensure the uninterrupted payment of their monthly pensions.

The austerity measures introduced by successive governments were found grossly inadequate to salvage the sinking public company. At some point in time, petroleum companies even threatened to stop the supply of fuel as the unpaid fuel bills kept mounting. Additionally, many vehicles had to be condemned following the scarcity of spare parts.

With each passing day, the debt-ridden KSRTC is incurring a huge additional loss on account of the new programme. While it was initially estimated that the scheme would cost the KSRTC ₹2 crore a day, it is expected to go up in the coming days, thus exacerbating the crisis for the public transport firm.

The State government, which came under pressure to honour its pre-poll commitment to roll out the scheme, is planning to evaluate the viability of the scheme after 100 days of its launch, something it should have done before including the proposal in the party’s poll manifesto.

Collateral damage

Private bus operators have decided to go on an indefinite agitation as the scheme has led women to desert private buses in favour of KSRTC-operated ones. Women constitute a major segment of the passenger population of the State. Many private buses have either stopped operating altogether or have cut short their operations on a large number of routes citing low passenger patronage, thus aggravating the crisis for the travelling public.

Currently, the government, it appears, has no compensation or support package to offer private bus operators. All that the State Transport Minister C. P. John could offer them was a piece of advice to explore other business options to make their services feasible, which was not well-received by the stakeholders.

Besides bus operators, auto rickshaw drivers too have been reportedly hit by the scheme as women are increasingly relying on KSRTC buses for their commute, thus depriving them of their livelihood options.

Thus, the Priyadarshini scheme which was offered to improve the mobility of women has led to an economic crisis for both the government and private operators as well as autorickshaw drivers. While the free travel initiative is expected to significantly benefit and support the mobility of women, the government should have assessed the feasibility of the scheme before its launch and devised a successful revenue model to sustain the programme.

For example, the free travel scheme need not be extended to all but restricted to eligible segments among women passengers, especially students and unemployed youth and those from the socially and economically weaker segments, namely, women workers engaged in the unorganised sectors.

Those willing to pay or can afford to pay for their travel expenses should pay.

Many people have started comparing the scheme to the arrack ban in 1996, which the then Chief Minister of Kerala A. K. Antony announced on the eve of an Assembly election with an eye on wooing women voters. While the scheme failed to attain its objective of dissuading the use of alcohol, it also failed to wield any influence among women. The ban, besides failing to achieve its objective, also failed to win votes for the Congress in the Assembly polls.

There are lessons for everyone to learn from history.