BJP Govt Has Made Pink Card Mandatory In DTC Buses, Snatching Away Rights Of Poor Purvanchali Women: Saurabh Bharadwaj

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has strongly criticised the BJP Government for making Pink Cards mandatory for free travel in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses, calling it a direct assault on the rights of poor women from different states residing in the national capital. AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj said that when every woman living in Delhi was already travelling free in DTC buses without discrimination, there was no justification for imposing an additional card requirement. 

What did Saurabh Bharadwaj say?

The AAP Delhi Unit Chief pointed out that within a year of coming to power, the BJP Government had exposed its discriminatory mindset towards women from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana and other states. He further asserted that a scheme which previously left no scope for corruption would now open the door for middlemen and officials to profit, and questioned why the Rekha Gupta Government is wasting public money on issuing Pink Cards instead of safeguarding women’s rights.

In a video message on X, AAP Delhi State President Saurabh Bharadwaj stated, “Rekha Gupta is making a new mockery. She says that now women will be given a Pink Card instead of a Pink Ticket. Till now, any woman coming from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana or anywhere else and residing in Delhi would board a bus and be given a free Pink Ticket, enabling her to travel without any difficulty. But now this new arrangement is being imposed that women will have to get a Pink Card made.”

The AAP Delhi Unit Chief questioned the financial and administrative logic behind the move. “Why does the BJP Government want to incur this expense of making Pink Cards? The government has not clarified which woman will be able to get this card and which woman will not. To get the card made, they will demand a Delhi Aadhaar card. But lakhs of women from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Purvanchal who live in Delhi still have Aadhaar cards from their original states. Is the BJP Government directly hatching a conspiracy to dispossess these poor Purvanchali women of their right?” he said.

What did Saurabh Bharadwaj say about allegations of corruption against BJP?

Raising concerns over corruption, Saurabh Bharadwaj added, “No one is explaining how there could be corruption in a free ticket. In return for issuing a ticket, the bus conductor gets nothing because conductors are paid fixed salaries, and private buses are paid on a per-kilometre basis. The government does not pay anyone based on the number of tickets issued. In a system where there was no scope for corruption, the BJP has now created new avenues for corruption.”

He further said, “When the system was running smoothly and free of cost, why does the BJP Government want to award a contract to a private company to make these cards and benefit it? Where will a poor woman go to submit her documents and why is this unnecessary complication being created? Now women will have to go from place to place to get a Pink Card and will be forced to take the help of middlemen. The condition of SDM and DM offices is such that even to get an income certificate made, people have to pay ₹5000. One can only imagine how much money middlemen will extract for making this Pink Card. After that, it will depend on the discretion of officials whose card will be made and whose will not.”

Saurabh Bharadwaj said the move was deliberate and targeted. “The BJP Government deliberately brings such conspiracies only to snatch away the rights of poor Purvanchalis. The BJP Government should be ashamed. This is being done merely to give new business and profit to a private company that will make these cards. It is being projected as a major achievement, whereas in reality it is a shameful act through which people’s rights are being directly taken away,” he said.