Assembly elections are to be held in Delhi after a few months. It is believed that assembly elections can be held in Delhi in February 2025. Even before this, a game of blame and counter blame has started between Aam Aadmi Party and BJP regarding deletion of names from the voter list and addition of names in the voter list.
As the assembly elections are approaching, the Aam Aadmi Party government has started the work of taking credit and wooing different sections of the voters of Delhi in full swing. On Wednesday, December 11, Delhi Chief Minister Atishi, after meeting the DTC employees, announced to accept their demands. Atishi posted pictures of his meeting with DTC employees on Twitter on Wednesday and claimed, “It was a relief to see the smiles on the faces of the DTC employees today. After their demands were met, they came to the Secretariat today, we sat together and had tea. These are not just employees, they are our own family members. These are the lifelines of Delhi. We are proud that under the guidance of our leader Arvind Kejriwal, our government has solved their problems in just 3 weeks. Solved it.”
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Ironically, the AAP government in Delhi, which is claiming to solve the problems of DTC employees in just 3 weeks, has been in power continuously since 2015. That is, when the time of elections came, the problems were also remembered.
However, one thing is true that DTC is the lifeline of Delhi. DTC still remains the only mode of transport for the middle class and lower middle class who cannot afford the expensive fares of Delhi Metro. But Delhi’s lifeline DTC is today searching for oxygen for its own survival. The validity of most of the DTC buses has expired and they are being run under compulsion without taking special permission. The condition of DTC has become so bad that the incidents of buses breaking down in the middle of the road are increasing continuously. Buses remain lying in the depot even due to minor defects.
This attitude of Delhi government can be considered as a big betrayal to the people of Delhi and especially women. Because in the name of free bus travel, the AAP government has given such a shock to the women of Delhi, the truth of which is now coming to light. Buses are missing from the roads of Delhi. In Delhi, there are so few buses running on the roads compared to the requirement that women and people have to wait for hours at bus stops. Under compulsion, women and other passengers have to travel in battery rickshaws or rural services by paying exorbitant fares. The condition of outer Delhi and areas beyond Yamuna is even worse. Even on the busiest and most heavily loaded bus routes, the number of buses has been reduced to such an extent that the situation is becoming increasingly dire. If Arvind Kejriwal once went on a fast in the same beautiful city, without any fanfare, if he goes to the same bus stop or just a few kilometers away to Seema Puri Depot or Nand Nagari Depot, then the whole truth will be seen. They will find out.
The big thing is that even if women somehow get a bus, the behavior of the driver and conductor towards them is also very insulting. Many DTC drivers and conductors feel that female passengers are traveling for free with their money. How bad the situation has become can be gauged from the fact that women who travel daily in DTC buses have now started saying that the free bus service has become a punishment for them. You may take fare from them but fix the bus number and service. Drivers are now forgetting how to stop the bus properly at a bus stop.
Therefore, if Arvind Kejriwal really wants to stop this deception being done to the women of Delhi, then he should release the real data of DTC buses running on the roads of Delhi. How many buses are running on each route and what is its actual timing should also be released. If a bus breaks down midway, the data should be uploaded and updated on social media in real time. Drivers, conductors and marshals should be given special training to interact with passengers, especially women. All this information should be made public on social media. Along with this, proper system for grievance redressal should also be made. Because if this is not done then this time the resentment of the women of Delhi may weigh heavily on them.
– Santosh Pathak
(The author is a senior journalist and columnist.)
