New Delhi: Former Delhi Metro chief E. Sreedharan has once again criticised the Aam Aadmi Party’s move to offer free metro rides to women, calling it an “election gimmick”.
In his reply to Manish Sisodia’s 14 June letter, Sreedharan came down heavily on the Delhi Deputy CM, who had written that he was “surprised” and “pained” to know that the former DMRC chief has opposed the state government’s proposal.
Known popularly as ‘Metro Man’, Sreedharan’s letter, dated 20 June, stated: “Everyone knows this is an election gimmick to win the votes of women in the next assembly election.”
Sisodia’s letter to Sreedharan had come after the latter wrote to PM Narendra Modi on 20 June, urging him to “not agree” to the proposal.
Sreedharan, however, said that he never received Sisodia’s letter to him and got a copy of it only from the media.
Free rides may set ‘alarming precedence’
In the letter to Sisodia, Sreedharan gave several reasons why free ridership to women will not do “any good”.
“…My objection is to the very idea of allowing free travel to any section of the society, till such time loans taken by DMRC (now outstanding about Rs 35 thousand crores) is serviced and paid back (sic),” he wrote.
The letter said the Arvind Kejriwal government might compensate DMRC for losses incurred due to free travel for women but the successive governments might be unable to do so.
“DMRC will not then be able to reverse and charge women commuters. Further, this would set an alarming precedence to other metros of the country which also carry heavy debt burden,” added Sreedharan, in the two-page-long letter.
He went on to clarify that he wasn’t opposing the Delhi government’s proposal to bear the cost of free travel for women but objecting to the concept of free travel on a metro.
Women’s safety
On the matter of women’s safety, Sreedharan said: “By giving free travel, the safety of women commuters is not at all enhanced. What about their safety once they step out of the metro and encounter lurking dangers on the road for want of safe link bus services? This is the area your government should spend money and not fund free travel.”
The letter further said: “If the Delhi government is flush with money why not assist DMRC to procure more trains and construct more lines so that the present overcrowding can get relief. On the other hand, to my knowledge, the Delhi government has delayed giving approval to the 4th phase expansion by two years nor come forward to offer link bus services for the last mile connectivity.”
Countering Sisodia’s argument on how Delhi Metro is utilising only 65 per cent of its capacity, Sreedharan said it wasn’t true and the “system is so heavily crowded during peak hours that even with trains running after every two minutes, commuters find it difficult to get inside them”.
He explained that the scheme will add to overcrowding and might lead to mishaps too.
“No metro in the world has extended free travel facility to women exclusively. If the GNCTD (Government of National Capital Territory) is so concerned about women, my suggestion is to reimburse their cost of travel directly rather than allowing free travel in the metro,” the letter states.
It also speaks about how any compensation that the Delhi government pays to DMRC is tax payers’ money and that the tax payer has every right to question why only women are being given free rides.
While concluding the letter, he appealed to the Delhi government to not destroy an efficient and successful public transport system such as Delhi Metro for electoral gains.
Also read: Why Arvind Kejriwal is unlikely to keep his free metro travel promise to women
AAP reacts to letter
AAP’s Atishi addressed the press in response to Sreedharan’s letter, and expressed her and the party’s shock at the “outright political” nature of the argument, and called it a similar voice to the one used by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
“The entire country respects Dr Sreedharan and his work. Therefore it came as a shock to us that a renowned policymaker and technocrat has chosen to write a purely political letter to oppose such a fantastic scheme. It is painful to watch Dr Sreedharan being used by the Bharatiya Janata Party to further its own political agenda. The BJP is firing from Dr Sreedharan’s shoulder,” said Atishi.
Questioning Sreedharan’s silence on several occasions when there were “legitimate threats” to the Delhi Metro’s revenues and financial health, Atishi asked: “Why was he silent when the Centre proposed a cross subsidy model last year for giving concessions to certain sections? The Centre was not even funding that scheme, instead it was transferring the burden to the DMRC. But there was no intervention by Dr Sreedharan.
“The Delhi government had unearthed serious irregularities in the Airport Metro line project, which was undertaken when Dr Sreedharan was in charge of the Delhi Metro. I don’t recall him ever raising his voice on these irregularities that were damaging the Metro. We had asked for a CBI enquiry into this as well, but the BJP government at the Centre wants to protect those involved and did not take any action. Why is Dr Sreedharan allowing himself to be used by the BJP?”
Quoting several international research studies on women’s mobility and access to economic opportunities, Atishi said: “The Aam Aadmi Party has based this scheme on several international studies. Women are a very small fraction of the country’s workforce. Most women work in small and medium-sized enterprises. They don’t have the financial independence to travel freely and many times have to ask their families for money to travel.
“When travel for women becomes free, it significantly increases their access to opportunities, as World Bank and UNDP reports have suggested. A McKinsey Global report said India’s GDP will grow by 16-20 per cent if women’s participation in the economy is at par with men. The lack of access to public tansport is one of the top impediments to the participation of women in the workforce.”
This report has been updated with the AAP’s reaction to Sreedharan’s letter.
Did sreedharan joined politics
That is ABSOLUTELY correct. Kejri thinks everyone can be fooled.
Wish women take out a protest rally against Kejriwal’s free metro rides