96% women against Delhi Metro fare hike, says DCW survey

Over 96% women oppose the metro fare hike and want a roll-back, a survey commissioned by Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has found.

Women also raised safety concerns over using other modes of transport due to the fare hike.

The commission surveyed 2,516 women outside 36 Metro stations in the wake of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) hiking its fare by up to ₹10 for those who travel more than five kilometers.

“As many as 68.68% women stated that they would be forced to adopt less safe modes of transportation for travelling or would be forced travel less frequently,” the women’s panel said in a statement.

A DCW official said that 96.98% women wanted DMRC to immediately roll back the fare hike. “As many as 96.2% of women opposed the hike, while 2.26% supported the decision, and 1.47% could not decide,” the official said.

DCW chief Swati Jaihind called the fare hike a draconian step by the Centre and a highly anti-women measure. “At a time when six rapes and several cases of harassment are reported each day, the Metro fare hike has forced women to go back to less safer modes of transportation,” she said.

The women’s body said they had sought a detailed report from the DMRC in September and as per their reply it was observed that DMRC miserably failed to increase revenue generation capabilities from alternate sources and moreover it had not yet incurred any losses, and all losses were only projected.

In an earlier letter to minister of urban affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, the DCW apprised the minister of the gaping loop holes in the fare hike recommendation report and had recommended to the Centre to roll back the fare hike.

“However, the Centre went ahead with the fare hike despite severe opposition from state government and the people of Delhi,” the statement said.