By Animesh
Women have always been essential for the expansion of the Indian economy. A report from Mckinsey in 20181 states that the contribution of the Indian women in the economy accounts for merely 18% of the total. Equal opportunities for them become essential in order to promote inclusive growth and advancement in India. Research demonstrates that women positively impact the economy even after catering to their social responsibilities. Women-owned businesses are comparatively more successful and they generate more jobs with more sales and revenues. Women have demonstrated to have greater levels of financial achievement than males despite having less access to finance. Women also fall into the "low risk and high return" group. They are credited with advancing society in the economic sense. Not only would the contribution of women in the economy help in stopping a new-world economic downturn but also, it is well established that the world could benefit by integrating women into both jobs and markets.
A key factor of economic growth is transportation and mobility and it has been observed that women in many areas are discouraged to participate in the country’s economy due to lack of proper commuting system. The concern is more acute in the remote areas. Governments must make investments in logistical infrastructure such as roads, railroads and airports to support economic growth. In a mixed economy, examining how government involvement has impacted the expansion of logistics and transportation is one approach to gauge how effective that influence has been on the economy. A government needs an effective transport system because that makes it simpler for workers to commute from houses to their workplaces and facilitates the reach of products and services from firms to the recipients. A state's economy may have a competitive advantage over the economies of other countries thanks to transport services and the supporting infrastructure.
Being aware of the role of women and the importance of safe transport facility for them, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal implemented the free bus ride scheme for women in the capital city. This scheme provided free bus rides to women across Delhi and the ticket worth ₹10 is reimbursed by the government. Further, to improve the safety of the women it was mandated that a marshal must be stationed in the buses in order to create a safe environment for women to commute. Moreover, CCTV cameras have also been installed in order to keep a check on the activities occurring within the buses.
In his announcement of this policy, Kejriwal cited the need for increasing the visibility of women in public while also linking women to economic, educational, and social opportunities in a better way (Kejriwal, 2019). It was observed that there is a lack of publicly available gender-disaggregated data which is crucial for examining the potential suitability, impact, and outcome of this policy. Thus, the researcher conducted this research in order to understand the proportion of women using public transport as a starting point for gauging overall visibility and mobility of women in the city.
Therefore, to execute the study, a mixed-method approach was adopted where primary data was collected through interviews from relevant individuals representing integral stakeholder bodies from both, the public and private sectors. Through purposive sampling data was collected from different stakeholders which included conductors, drivers, marshals, students, professionals employed in services, informal workers and Civil Society Organizations. By percentage and content analysis, an overview of perceptions of the stakeholder bodies towards the Free Bus Ride Scheme for Women in Delhi was mapped out.
The major findings of this research work are that this scheme has led to greater savings and safety. Now women need not spend on transport, so their transport expense is reduced and more female passengers are seen in the buses, thereby creating a safe environment for them. 61.3% of the selected sample believe that this scheme has promoted gender equality as traditionally women were not allowed to move out of their houses for work but this policy serves to be an affirmative action towards discrimination against women, within four boundaries.
Many women from informal sectors (Resource Poor women) are positive beneficiaries of this policy as it helps them to save some amount of money which might reduce their dependency on their male partners. This has led to an increase in female participation in informal sectors as many of them are now accompanied by other female members to work due to this policy, leading Delhi towards equitable growth. Even the male members of the families are using this policy to save more money as the women are mobilized for collecting rations, groceries or vegetables at places which are slightly distant or where one cannot reach by walking. However, this has affected the earnings of the auto drivers and e-rickshaw drivers since for those short distance trips buses are preferred. Due to this reason buses are becoming overcrowded for short distances and it is creating hindrances for those who are in actual need. There is a steep rise in the middle-class working women commuting in the buses due to this policy due to fact that it helps them save money in the form of travel expenditure but it is still seen that many working middle-class women prefer the metro to commute because of overcrowding in the buses. This has resulted in an increase in the crime rate against women, especially pickpocketing. Road congestion issues resulting in extra time taken to reach the destination also is one of the biggest hindrances which makes women commuters to look for alternative solutions when they are time bound.
These problems still stop many women from commuting in the buses. It was found that this policy created a burden on government in monetary terms and is one of the factors of incurring losses for the Delhi Transportation Corporation.
This Scheme focuses on a more holistic level as it somewhat tries to shift the women population from private mode of transportation to the public mode, which might be helpful as well in terms of reducing pollution and congestion at a small level. To increase the success rate of this policy more buses need to be introduced by DTC. It has been recommended that this free right service should be extended to senior citizens as well.
The main emphasis of this policy was on security which has improved because the presence of marshals and CCTV cameras act as a deterrence towards any kind of mis-haps against women which has made the buses women-friendly. This is a great move to increase the number of women travelling in the buses as women psychologically feel much safer while commuting due to presence of more women in the buses which is also somewhat effective in mainstreaming a large number of women in employment opportunities. Thus, improving their participation in the society.
“Transportation is not only infrastructure but the means to participate in the work force and to live a fuller life”.
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