Transport Minister C P John Must Apologise for Insulting Keralam's Women: M V Govindan

Thiruvananthapuram: CPI(M) State Secretary M V Govindan has demanded that Transport Minister C P John apologise for remarks that insulted women in Keralam.

Addressing a press conference, he said the minister’s remarks questioned the self-respect of Keralam's women, who had progressed through education, social reform movements and collective initiatives such as Kudumbashree.

“The minister’s words reflect a patriarchal mindset that views the free travel scheme as some kind of favour being granted to women. Free travel for women was an election promise made by the UDF. After coming to power, the government restricted the scheme to ordinary buses and is now insulting the women who use it,” Govindan said.

He said the cost of the scheme was met using taxpayers’ money and was not a favour granted in response to requests from individual women.

“This was a promise made by the UDF to secure votes. Yet, women using the scheme are being insulted as though they are pretending to be poor. Such remarks are unacceptable,” he said.

The CPI(M) state secretary alleged that the present scheme was introduced after discontinuing the distribution of ₹1,000 as part of the women’s security scheme implemented by the previous LDF government for homemakers.

“The earlier scheme enabled women to travel with dignity on any bus. That scheme was scrapped, and limited free travel on selected buses is now being presented as an act of generosity,” he said.

The controversy arose after Transport Minister C P John said that women were rushing into Priyadarshini buses because they could travel without paying.

Speaking at the state conference of the Kerala Bus Transport Association in Palakkad, the minister said women rush to board money-strapped KSRTC buses because they lack cash in hand. However, he noted that the same women pay fees to send their children to private schools instead of public ones.