Arvind Kejriwal said free travel for women in Delhi's public transport will empower them.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday announced to make metro and bus travel free for women in the national capital.
The proposal will be implemented within 2-3 months, he said.
" On all DTC buses, cluster buses and metro trains women will be allowed to travel free of cost so that they have a safe travel experience and can access modes of transport which they were not able to, due to high prices..The government will bear their travel expenses," Kejriwal said at a press conference.
For the remaining part of this financial year, the cost of this comes to Rs 700-800 crore, he said.
Kejriwal said he has asked officials to study the proposal. The government has also sought feedback from the public.
Officers have been given a week to prepare a detailed report after which a proposal will be brought in the cabinet, he said.
The step will not lead to congestion in the Delhi Metro, as the daily ridership will increase by just one lakh. Currently, 25 lakh people travel by metro daily, he said.
He also said that his government accords top priority to women safety and has passed a tender to install 1.50 lakh CCTV cameras across the city.
"A survey for 70,000 CCTVs has been completed and these will be installed by December. A proposal for another 1.40 lakh cameras in under consideration," he said.
As many as 1.50 lakh CCTV cameras will be installed in government-run schools by November, Kejriwal added.
At a public meeting on Saturday, the chief minister had said his government was considering to make metro and bus travels free for women in Delhi "to encourage them to use public transport".
Kejriwal had also said his government is in touch with city's power regulator to bring down fixed charge component of electricity bill.
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