Karnataka govt to roll out smartcards for Shakti scheme beneficiaries in two months

Bengaluru: The state government plans to roll out smartcards for the beneficiaries of the Shakti scheme in about two months, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy said. 

The scheme, which offers free bus travel for women domiciled in Karnataka, completed two years on Wednesday. 

Launched as the first of the Congress government’s five guarantees on June 11, 2023, the scheme has been a runaway hit. A staggering 474 crore tickets were issued until Tuesday, costing the government Rs 11,994.37 crore. 

The government has planned to introduce smartcards to weed out leakages — such as conductors issuing tickets to inflate numbers — and to streamline expenditure. The scheme has also overwhelmed city bus conductors, who are often at their wits’ end to issue tickets to beneficiaries quickly. 

The modalities for the smartcard rollout have now been worked out, and the proposal has been sent to the Finance Department for approval, Reddy said. 

“Once we get the Finance Department’s approval, the matter will go to the cabinet for final approval,” he told DH. “We aim to implement it in about two months.” 

Each smartcard will contain a computer chip that can store and process data such as a beneficiary’s boarding and alighting points, distance travelled, fare and so on. These datasets will cover the entire state bus network, he explained. 

These smartcards will function somewhat like bank cards that will be readable by the Electronic Ticketing Machines (ETMs) used by bus conductors. They will contain beneficiary photos and domicile details. Beneficiaries can tap them on the ETM instead of presenting their ID. 

While Reddy admitted that the smartcard rollout had been delayed due to complex backend arrangements, he said that the scheme was running smoothly. 

“We estimate the scheme has 3.5 crore beneficiaries and almost all of them have Aadhaar,” he stated. 

Reddy declined to specify the cost of the rollout but said discussions were ongoing on who would bear it. 

“We’re still deciding who will bear the cost — whether it will be the beneficiary, the bus corporations or the government,” he added. 

Shakti scheme in 2 years

No of tickets issued: 474.82 cr

BMTC: 150.60 cr

KSRTC: 144.23 cr

NWKRTC: 111.1 cr

KKRTC: 68.78 cr

Cost: Rs 11994.37 crore