Difficulties for the new Kerala government in fulfilling the election promise of making bus travel free for women.

The decision by the new government that came to power in Kerala state, India, to allow women to travel for free on state-owned public transport buses has become a subject of intense concern and discussion among various parties. Private bus owners fear the potential impact this could have on the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), which is already facing a severe financial crisis, as well as the risk of the private bus industry, which operates strongly in the state, completely collapsing.

The new United Democratic Front (UDF) government, led by the Congress party, which was sworn in last Monday, announced this free bus travel facility as its first policy measure, effective from June 15th. This government, led by Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan, states that this fulfills one of the five 'Indira Guarantees' promised to the people through their election manifesto.

In addition to the free transport facility for women, four other major relief measures are included in this series of promises. These include providing a monthly allowance of Rs. 1,000 (approximately Dirham 38.15) for college girls pursuing higher education, increasing the social welfare pension from Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 3,000 (Dirham 76 to 114), providing interest-free loan facilities up to a maximum of Rs. 500,000 (Dirham 19,000) to encourage young entrepreneurs, and establishing an independent department dedicated to the welfare of senior citizens.

However, the additional financial burden imposed by this decision will have to be borne by KSRTC, an institution heavily reliant on state government funds and already burdened by debt. While 7,000 private buses operate in the state, the public sector only has a limited number of around 4,000 buses, and more than 1,250 of these buses are over 15 years old. Furthermore, this institution faces massive operational costs due to having to pay salaries to 22,000 permanent employees and pensions to nearly double that number of retirees.

The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government, which was in power in Kerala for the past ten years, invested a massive sum of Rs. 140 billion (approximately Dirham 5.35 billion) to revive this loss-making state transport institution, but these efforts have not yielded successful results. According to official government data, approximately two million people travel daily by KSRTC buses, and nearly half of them are women. Therefore, there is a risk that half of the institution's total daily income of Rs. 75.3 million (approximately Dirham 2.85 million) will be lost in the future due to this free travel facility.