Kottayam: The BJP’s Mahila Morcha on Monday staged a protest at the KSRTC bus stand in Kottayam, demanding that the Kerala government extend its newly introduced free-travel scheme for women to all KSRTC services instead of limiting the benefit to ordinary buses.
Mahila Morcha leaders boarded KSRTC buses and sought free tickets from conductors, arguing that the UDF had promised free travel for women on government buses during the election campaign and had failed to fully deliver on that assurance after coming to power. Protesters accused the government of scaling back its commitment after securing votes and claimed that women had been misled about the scope of the scheme.
The organisation maintained that its activists did not block bus services and had only sought to test whether free travel would be permitted. It described the demonstration as a warning protest and indicated that further agitation would follow if the government did not expand the scheme.
The latest protest comes weeks after Mahila Morcha launched similar demonstrations across Kerala, including in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kozhikode and Kasaragod, alleging delays in implementing the promised benefit. Activists had then travelled without purchasing tickets and displayed placards demanding the immediate rollout of the scheme.
However, the rationale behind the agitation is being widely questioned, since the government has already implemented the free-travel programme and the current protest centres on demands for its expansion rather than its introduction. The agitation is widely seen as an attempt to portray a fulfilled welfare measure as a broken promise and to keep political pressure on the government despite the scheme having been launched.
Mahila Morcha has said it will continue its campaign until free travel is extended to all KSRTC buses.