291 villages across Karnataka do not have bus connectivity

Transport minister of Karnataka, Ramalinga Reddy, went on record, in the legislative assembly, to share data pertaining to the coverage offered by the KSRTC (Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation), NWKRTC (North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation), KKTC  (Kalyan Karnataka Transport Corporation) and BMTC (Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation). As per this, 291 villages across 4 divisions of the Road Transport Corporations (RTCs) have not been able to access bus services. According to Ramalinga Reddy, as far as the BMTC is concerned, full connectivity of all villages under its ambit has been ensured. 204 villages under KSRTC lack connectivity. 45 villages under NWKRTC lack connectivity. 42 villages under KKRTC lack connectivity. 

The reason that has been mentioned for the lack of connectivity is that the roads leading up to the villages do not have capability to sustain heavy vehicles like lorries and buses. At a time when the Shakthi scheme has reached out to 18.72 crore women in 2 months, such lag in development acts as a stumbling block for the successful implementation of the scheme. Ramalinga Reddy taking this into cognizance said that surveys will be conducted and infrastructure would be improved for the deployment of the buses.