Kochi: The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) officially initiated 'gender ticketing' on Friday by updating all electronic ticketing machines (ETMs) to categorize passengers by gender.
"The conductors will need to mark the gender appropriately while issuing tickets, starting from Saturday (May 9). To facilitate the same, the IT department has rolled out software modifications to ETMs to allow for seamless gender categorization at the point of sale," a circular signed by Nishanth S, Deputy General Manager (IT), and issued to all depots across the state, read.
While the official directive emphasizes data collection, many observers view this as the foundational step towards fulfilling a major political commitment. Free travel for women in KSRTC buses was a cornerstone of the United Democratic Front's (UDF) election manifesto. By implementing gender-specific ticketing now, the corporation is creating the statistical infrastructure necessary to calculate the financial implications of such a subsidy.
"The move is likely the first step towards implementing the free travel promise, though nothing in this regard was mentioned in the circular. It provides the government with the precise statistics required to design a sustainable welfare scheme for women commuters," a senior official said.
To ensure a smooth rollout, unit officers are tasked with conducting comprehensive training sessions for conductors. The conductors need to first enter the travel 'stage'. The machine will then prompt for 'male' or 'female'. Under a detailed section, options for 'child' and 'transgender' are also available. The issued physical ticket will display the gender marked by the conductor.
"The total commuters traveling in KSRTC buses a day is nearly 30 lakh, and the women travelers are estimated to be around 19 lakh. Over half of the daily revenue earned (Rs 7 to Rs 10 crore) through ticket sales is from the women commuters (Rs 5 to 6 crore). The corporation is just about managing to stay afloat now. The allowance of free travel for women will further burden the public entity," said an employee affiliated to the Kerala State Road Transport Employees Association.
