Jk Women aspire Free and comfortable Public Transport
News Kashmir Exclusive
With increasing movement of women for purposes of work, buisness and family the needs of transportation of women have increased.
It is a matter of great pain that Public transport still is an uncomfortable and costly affair for women of Jammu and Kashmir. While as many other states of country have made progress on it .
Stree Shakti – The Parallel Force organization has done appreciable work all across country in highlighting and resolving the burning issues of women as it aims at pulling together individual and collective knowledge engaged in women welfare. It is a movement to rouse and activate women of every age, class and creed to empower them so that they work as catalysts for fundamental social change. The Forum provides a platform for joint action through research, networking and advocacy since 1998.
The Background
Female mobility has always been a matter of concern for socio-cultural –economic development for both rural and urban women. Research indicates that in lower strata of society one women annually spend around Rs 2500 on clothes , 1500 on medicines , 1500 on hygiene and Rs 2000 on unforeseen expense. Total Rs annually Rs 7500 on her personal expense. Where as on the bus travel alone her minimum annual expense is Rs 8000 alone.
In case of elderly women things get worse as their income dwindles and medical expense goes up they often face isolation resulting in serious health issues both physical and mental. Our research of one year conducted in different part of India pointed out that elderly women due to reasons like financial insecurity & instability confine themselves to the household only. 59% of the elderly women are widowed. Many of them have no bank accounts and levels of income are also very low. Many elderly women face desertion and live alone. Then living alone is remarkably higher among elderly women (9.6%) as compared to men (2%).
Free Travel Pass : A silent Revolution
A travel pass on public buses to the women will encourage them to travel and free link up with the world. The Free pass introduced by three prominent states of India , Delhi, Punjab and Tamilnadu have exciting findings. Different states have taken a different route to fund it.
Who is paying for the free rides for women : Delhi Model
For every free journey undertaken by a woman commuter, the Delhi government will extend a flat subsidy of Rs 10 to the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and the DIMTS (Delhi Multi- Modal Transit Ltd) under which the city’s public bus fleet operates.
States with Free Travel:
AAP government New Delhi October 2019
BJP Haryana ( Partial ) January 2022
Indian National Congress Punjab April 2021
DMK Tamil Nadu July 2021
AINRC and BJP Puducherry (Intention) December 2021
The voices in Jammu and Kashmir are also urging free and comfortable public transportation for women of Jammu and Kashmir.
Aam Aadmi Party leader and prominent Public Rights Activist Jibran Dar ,while talking to News Kashmir Stated :” The Delhi Government has been able to give free public transportation to women via issuing pink slips. Millions of women have so far taken so far benefits of it. Many states are doing same. We need to bear in mind Delhi has much higher population than Kashmir as whole country visits Delhi for different purposes so if they have made efficient public transportation why can’t we. It is a matter of great misfortune even with uniform our girl students don’t get 50 percent concession. Also, with huge number of private vehicles issued and operating in Kashmir rampantly the focus on public transport has been very less. We need to bear in mind a small percentage of women mostly students and working go out in Kashmir and still we are failing to provide them quality public transport. “
The need of the hour is to provide quality public transport for the women of Jammu and Kashmir.
