Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will don the role of a bus conductor on June 11, marking the launch of the ‘Shakti’ scheme. This initiative, one of the Congress government’s five guarantees, provides free bus travel to women in the state, according to sources close to the CM.
Siddaramaiah will symbolically issue tickets to a few women in Bengaluru, kicking off the project. Concurrently, ministers and legislators are expected to initiate the scheme in their respective districts and constituencies.
District-in-charge ministers were appointed on Friday. Siddaramaiah’s office subsequently issued a statement instructing them, along with legislators, to ensure the Shakti scheme’s widespread reach, regardless of caste, religion, or class. Siddaramaiah was quoted in the statement, emphasising the ministers’ need to ensure a meaningful launch of the scheme.
The Shakti scheme, the statement added, has eased the burden on the state’s women, distressed by rising prices and inflation. The state government is implementing all its guarantee schemes within a month of coming to power, despite requiring substantial fund mobilisation.