"Shakti scheme will continue," Karnataka Minister Ramalinga Reddy clarifies

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], October 31 (ANI): Karnataka Minister Ramalinga Reddy clarified on Thursday that the Shakti program will continue, which offers free bus travel for women.
"Shakti program has been going on for the last 3.5 years. We will come back to power. So our Shakti program will continue for 8.5 years... Women in large numbers have been traveling in our buses since 2023. Shakti program will continue...In 2018, the BJP promised 600 assurances and they implemented only 60. BJP leaders are liars...," Ramalinga told reporters here.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Tuesday had said that the government will hold discussions on the Shakthi scheme in view of many women preferring to pay for their tickets.
"Many women have been communicating to us through social media and emails that they would like to pay for their tickets. We will discuss this," he told reporters earlier in the month.
"About 5-10 percent of women are saying that the conductors are not taking money for the tickets even when they volunteer. I will soon hold a meeting with Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy and discuss this," he added.
However on Thursday the Deputy CM claimed that he was only speaking about a section of women and that the scheme would not be stopped.
Speaking to reporters at the KPCC office, he said, "My statement has been twisted. I only said that many economically empowered women working in IT sector and MNC companies have expressed interest to pay for the ticket. Many women have expressed that they would like to pay for the tickets as they get conveyance allowance from their companies. I said that I will discuss this with the Transport Minister. I never said that the guarantee scheme would be stopped."
"There is absolutely no question of withdrawing any of the five guarantee schemes. But we can't force the guarantee schemes down the throat of people who do not want it. Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a public appeal to voluntarily give up LPG subsidy. I only said that something similar could be done. As the KPCC President and the DCM, I reiterate that none of the schemes will be withdrawn at any cost. These schemes will continue not only for the next 3.5 years but also for 5 more years in the next term of the Congress government," he stated.
The earlier suggestion that there would a review of the scheme had brought strong reactions from the opposition.
"Did women appear in a dream to D.K.Shivakumar and ask him to stop the Shakti Scheme? Or did God tell him to do it? This is just the first step in their plan to halt the five guarantees, one by one. Soon, they'll end schemes like Anna Bhagya, Gruha Jyothi, Gruha Lakshmi, and Yuva Nidhi, all under the pretense of review," said Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy.
For now, the Congress has bought peace by clarifying that the Sakthi Scheme will not be stopped by the state government. (ANI)