Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], July 14 : The Karnataka government on Monday distributed sweets and saree to the women passengers in bus after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah handed over the symbolic 500th crore ticket to a woman under the Shakti scheme.
State Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy assured that the scheme will continue in future.
"We started this scheme on 21 June, 2023. The 500th crore ticket was issued by the CM and the Dy CM too. We distributed sweets and sarees to the passengers too today... The scheme will continue 100 per cent..." Reddy told ANI.
Earlier today, CM Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar distributed tickets to women passengers on the bus near Windsor Manor Bridge in Bengaluru.
On this occasion, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, and several other dignitaries were present.
Five guarantee schemes were announced during the 2023 Assembly election. The Shakti Yojana was launched on June 11 as per the decision taken in the Cabinet to implement it immediately after the government came into existence on May 20, 2023.
The Chief Minister explained that since then, women in the state have been provided free travel facilities in government buses.
Meanwhile, a row erupted in Karnataka over the inauguration of Kalasavalli-Ambargondlu Bridge in Shivamogga district between the state and Central government.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that neither he nor his office was consulted for the finalisation of inauguration event date of Kalasavalli-Ambargondlu Bridge in Shivamogga district by the Union Ministry.
The Chief Minister further said that the official invitation was received merely three days prior to the event, to which his office responded about his prior commitment to a state-level inauguration and requested that the event be rescheduled.
His remarks came after Union Minister Nitin Gadkari inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for multiple key infrastructure projects, including the Kalasavalli-Ambargondlu Bridge in Shivamogga.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, his cabinet colleagues, and Congress MLAs boycotted the event as a mark of protest after the CM's request to postpone the event on another date was rejected by the Centre.