Bengaluru, Jun 13 (IANS): After launch of the 'Shakthi scheme' for free travel by women by the Congress government in Karnataka, state-owned buses are seeing women passengers turning out in great numbers, an official statement said on Tuesday.

A Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) statement said that from midnight on June 12 to 12 p.m., 41.34 lakh women passengers have traveled in government owned buses across the state. The cost incurred by the government is Rs 8.83 crore.

As many as 17.57 lakh women travelled in Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses in and around the state capital, while 11.40 lakh women travelled in KSRTC, 8.30 lakh women in NWKRTC and 4.40 lakh in KKRTC. The data of bus schedules which are returning to the depot after midnight are not included in the above data.

On June 11 between 1 p.m. to 12 p.m, 5.71 lakh women passengers availed the scheme by traveling free and the cost incurred is Rs 1.40 crore.

The KSRTC has also mandated the drivers and conductors to initiate precautionary measures at all buses to ensure safety of passengers, especially students, by ensuring the closure of doors of the bus while traveling. The direction is given against the backdrop of the death of a school student in Haveri district while traveling on the footboard of the overcrowded bus.