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Kerala Chief Minister VD Satheesan, on the inaugural day of the KSRTC Priyadarshini free travel scheme for women, said, “If men are given free travel, the saved money would not reach their households.” His remark was in response to the protest by the All Kerala Men’s Association (AKMA) over the travel being free only for women. CM emphasised that money left with women directly benefits their families.
Men’s Rights Activists (MRAs) in Kerala had earlier expressed their opposition to the scheme and announced that they would travel on buses without tickets as a mark of protest on the inaugural day.
Satheesan said, “I am not against men. The money saved by women will eventually return to their homes. If it’s men, very few might take it home. The rest will eventually go to the government as tax money,” he said implying that the men might spend it on alcohol.
Following the Chief Minister’s remarks, the AKMA called off their decision to board buses for protest and limited it to a demonstration and raising slogans in front of the Secretariat.
“We consider the Chief Minister with great respect because of the remarks he made during the inauguration. He used the phrase “the protest of our men's association.” We take that in a positive and healthy spirit. We had expected that he would criticise it,” said Vattiyoorkavu Ajith Kumar, president, AKMA.
The free travel initiative was one of the five Indira Guarantees promised by the Congress-led UDF in their election manifesto. While the original promise envisaged free travel for women on all buses, the scheme currently offers free travel only on KSRTC’s ordinary services, including city ordinary, limited-stop, town-to-town, point-to-point and Grama Vandi, a rural bus service run in collaboration with local bodies.
