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Kerala Transport Minister CP John has sparked a controversy with remarks that he does not understand the economic behaviour of women who rely on free bus travel and public hospitals because they can’t afford the cost but prefer sending their children to private schools.
The row began after John, who is also the general secretary of the Communist Marxist Party (CMP), while addressing the Kerala Bus Transport Association (KBTA) state conference, was seen questioning the choices made by women who use free bus services. KBTA represents private bus owners in Kerala, an organisation which has been critical of the Priyadarshini scheme launched by the Kerala State Transport Corporation (KSRTC), because of concerns over loss of revenue. The scheme allows women to travel in ordinary KSRTC buses free of charge.
“Seats are lying vacant in government schools. Instead of sending their kids to these schools, they are sending them to institutions with a fee burden. When it comes to hospitals, the same woman prefers to stay in the verandah of a government hospital with her husband or father. The behaviour exhibited by people in Kerala in three sectors - public health, public transport, public education - make me wonder. If a bus comes, they want to rush into a transport bus which offers cheap travel but their children will be enrolled in schools with a fee. If they are sick they are scared to go to a public hospital because they don't have money. After Priyadarshini service was started, they began to abandon your buses and board the crowded buses not because they are not against you or because they like me more. It is because the married women in our state do not have money," John said, while speaking at the KBTA conference held in Palakkad.
The All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) said the minister's remarks were "anti-women" and an insult to ordinary women who depend on public transport.
Responding to criticism, CP John said he stood by his observations but clarified that free bus travel for women is a right, while speaking to reporters on Tuesday, August 4.
"It was self-criticism. Including me, many political leaders failed to recognise the aspirations of the working class. They are sending their children to private schools because they do not want them to live the same poverty they experienced. I stand by what I said. Free bus travel is women's right," the minister said.
AIDWA statement said the minister's comments humiliated women who use public transport facilities and is a reflection of the attitude of both the minister and the government towards women and the public.
AIDWA said portraying women's freedom of movement and the benefits available to them with contempt was unbecoming of a minister. It also accused the government of first restricting the free travel scheme promised to women to only ordinary buses and then insulting the very beneficiaries of the scheme.
The organisation demanded that CP John withdraw his remarks immediately and apologise to the women of Kerala.