The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Tuesday demanded an immediate rollback of the fare hike and said that the fare hike would have adverse effects on the safety of women.
The DCW said that it had carried out a survey where over 2,500 women were included from around 36 Metro stations. Relying on the survey, the commission said that around 96.98% of the women wanted an immediate rollback.
Domestic expenses
Citing safety concerns, the DCW report said that approximately 68.68% of those who polled had said that because of the fare hike, they would be forced to travel in other means of transport which would definitely not be as safe as the Metro. Further, the report also said that some of the women had raised concerns over the hike as it would affect their domestic expenses.
“Around 61.57% of the women stated that they would face severe issues in managing their household expenses after the fare hike” said the commission.
Revenue generation
“Last month, the DCW had sought a detailed report from the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), and as per their reply it was observed that the DMRC miserably failed to increase revenue generation capabilities from alternate sources” read a statement released by the DCW.
Calling the fare hike a ‘draconian step’, DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal said, “At a time when six rapes and several cases of harassment are reported every day, the Metro fare hike has forced women to go back to less safer modes of transportation.”
