3 months ago
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The Karnataka Cabinet connected Thursday approved the organisation of astute cards to beneficiaries of the State’s flagship Shakti Scheme, astir two-and-a-half years aft the strategy was launched.
‘Will instrumentality time’
Speaking to The Hindu, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy said that the cards volition beryllium distributed escaped of outgo to beneficiaries. “We are readying to administer done the Seva Sindhu portal oregon done Bangalore One and Karnataka One centres upon registration. However, the rollout whitethorn instrumentality immoderate clip arsenic the cards person to beryllium manufactured,” Mr. Reddy said.
“The astute paper volition assistance the authorities accurately grounds the existent fig of passengers who person travelled and alteration the procreation of reliable data,” Mr. Reddy added.
Introduced connected June 11, 2023, arsenic the archetypal of the Congress government’s 5 guarantees, the Shakti strategy allows women, including transgender persons and students, to question escaped of outgo connected non-premium State-run buses. The strategy has since emerged arsenic 1 of the astir fashionable payment initiatives successful the State and adjacent earned a spot successful the Golden Book of World Records for ferrying the highest fig of women passengers nether a free-travel programme.
According to authoritative information arsenic of February 10, 2026, arsenic galore arsenic 666,92,61,660 women passengers person travelled nether the strategy crossed Karnataka. The full summons worth of women passengers travelled stands astatine ₹17,271,11,35,254.
Data accuracy
Despite its success, the astute paper system, envisioned to streamline ticketing and amended information collection, had remained successful the pipeline.
At present, women passengers tin avail themselves of a ‘zero ticket’ by showing immoderate valid government-issued individuality paper to conductors. However, officials said determination were instances wherever a fewer passengers produced individuality cards that were “not valid oregon duplicate” to assertion zero tickets. The strategy is meant exclusively for women domiciled successful Karnataka.
An authoritative said that the astute paper was precise overmuch indispensable for the conductors besides arsenic determination were cases wherever fewer conductors were besides issuing zero tickets without immoderate idiosyncratic travelling to amusement oregon to summation the fig of passengers starring to incorrect data.
Official added, “Manually verifying individuality cards successful crowded buses often delays conductors’ work. With astute cards, conductors tin make tickets rapidly by either visually verifying the paper oregon tapping it connected the Electronic Ticketing Machine (ETM), eliminating delays caused by checking individuality documents”.
