"Won't Be Tolerated": Arvind Kejriwal Warns Action Against Drivers Who Don't Stop Buses For Women

Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said that drivers of the DTC buses who do not stop for women will face severe action. Posting a video of one such incident in the national capital, Mr Kejriwal said the bus driver is being punished. The AAP government had launched the free bus ride scheme for women in the national capital in 2019. Since then, they present a status report every year in the Budget on the number of women who have availed this facility.

"There are complaints that some drivers do not stop the bus on seeing women as the ride for women is free. This will not be tolerated at all. Strict action is being taken against this bus driver," Mr Kejriwal said in his tweet posted in Hindi.

Earlier this month, Mr Kejriwal had announced that his government will introduce a scheme for private aggregators to run premium buses to cater to middle-class and upper-middle-class commuters.

However, there will be no provision of free travel for women in them, the Delhi Chief Minister said at a press conference.

Mr Kejriwal also said that these premium buses will be air-conditioned and equipped with Wi-Fi, GPS, CCTV and a panic button. 

The fares will be decided by the aggregators. There will be only one condition - the fare of a particular route should be higher than that of DTC) - he said.

DTC is the largest public transport entity in the National Capital Region (NCR), with a fleet strength of 3,920 buses. Out of these, 3,620 are low-floor CNG buses, and 300 electric buses.