Subscribe
Follow TNM's WhatsApp channel for news updates and story links.
Kerala Transport Minister CP John on Wednesday, August 5, apologised for his remarks questioning the choices of women who use the state's free bus travel scheme, saying he had no intention of hurting anyone.
"I shouldn't have said that. It should end there," the minister told reporters. "I have no ego when it comes to expressing regret. If anyone was hurt or offended by my statement, I sincerely apologise. It was never my intention to cause any problems for anyone," he said.
The apology came a day after John sparked a controversy with comments made at a programme organised as part of the Kerala Bus Transport Association (KBTA) state conference, where he said he did not understand the economic behaviour of women who availed free bus travel but chose to educate their children in private schools.
"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 the Priyadarshini service was started, they began to abandon your buses and board the crowded buses, not because they are against you or because they like me more. It is because the married women in our state do not have money," he had said.
The Priyadarshini scheme, introduced by the UDF government, allows women to travel free of cost on ordinary Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses.
John's remarks triggered widespread criticism, with the All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) describing them as "anti-women" and an insult to ordinary women who depend on public transport.
While initially, amid the backlash, the minister had refused to withdraw his remarks, maintaining that they had been misinterpreted and insisting that he stood by what he had said.
However, a day later, John clarified that he fully supported the Priyadarshini scheme and said his intention was to highlight the persistence of poverty in Kerala rather than criticise women who use the service.
"'Priyadarshini' is an initiative that we started, and our biggest commitment is to carry it forward. It is the right of its beneficiaries to receive it. What I meant to say is that poverty exists in Kerala; that was the political point I was making. Earlier, there were statements claiming that poverty no longer exists in Kerala, and that is simply not true," he said.
