Women travelling in Delhi Metro to and from NCR destinations may get fare exemption: Minister

Women travelling in the Delhi Metro to and from NCR destinations may get benefit of the AAP government's fare exemption scheme if their boarding or de-boarding station lies in the national capital, Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said Monday. The government has proposed to allow free ride to women in public transport buses and Metro trains in view of their safety.

Delhi Metro trains run across Delhi and also connect NCR destinations including Gurgaon, Faridabad, Bahadurgarh and Ballabhgarh in Haryana and Ghaziabad and Noida in Uttar Pradesh. "We can do this for such women commuters travelling between Delhi and NCR destinations," Gahlot told reporters.

The Transport department and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) are preparing a detailed report on the proposal. The transport department has was directed by Gahlot to prepare a Cabinet note on the proposal by June 11.

The government has extended the last date for receiving feedback on the proposal from stakeholders to June 30. Earlier, the feedback was to be collected till June 15. Delhi Dialogue and Development Commission (DDC) vice-chairperson Jasmine Shah said around 3,700 suggestions and opinions of the people were received through email till Monday.

The transport minister said that the report of DMRC was awaited. There was no major issue as far as implementing the fare exemption in public transport buses was concerned, he said. Electronic ticketing machines being used by conductors in DTC and Cluster buses will have to be slightly modified so that a woman passenger could be counted while showing no fare charged for her commute, he said.

The Delhi government plans to provide subsidy to the public transporters, including DMRC, for fare exemption to be given to women passengers.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)