Karnataka’s Transport Minister, Ramalinga Reddy, has voiced strong opposition to suggestions from Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya and former Infosys CFO T.V. Mohandas Pai regarding the privatization of the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC). Reddy firmly stated that public transportation serves as a crucial welfare service, emphasizing its necessity to remain under government oversight. He argued that this ensures it prioritizes the needs of ordinary citizens over the profit motives of private entities.
During a press conference on October 14, Minister Reddy directly addressed comments made at a MoveInSync symposium, where Mr. Surya, Mr. Pai, and Yulu co-founder R.K. Misra advocated for privatizing city bus operations. Reddy asserted that individuals proposing such radical changes ‘have never actually used public transport’ and ‘demonstrate a fundamental misunderstanding of how it truly operates.’
“These individuals discuss dismantling BMTC’s long-standing public service without any firsthand experience on public buses. They seem to believe they possess solutions for every societal challenge, yet they lack essential subject matter expertise,” Reddy commented. He further highlighted BMTC’s indispensable role in offering affordable travel to a wide demographic in Bengaluru, including laborers, office employees, and residents from lower and middle-income backgrounds.
The Minister then underscored the resounding success of the Shakti scheme, which grants free bus travel to women throughout Karnataka. “More than 570 crore women have already benefited from this initiative,” Reddy announced. “This powerfully illustrates the transformative potential of public transport when its core mission is welfare, not financial gain.”
Reddy passionately argued that privatizing BMTC would disproportionately harm its most vulnerable users. He explained, “Private bus operators, driven by profit, would inevitably concentrate their services solely on the most lucrative routes. BMTC, however, operates on a fundamental principle of service, ensuring that even financially less attractive routes are covered for the broader public good.”
He also emphasized that, globally, no significant public transport system operates purely for profit. “Worldwide, public transport is designed to serve communities, not to be a revenue-generating enterprise. It is a fundamental responsibility of the government to foster and safeguard these essential public services,” Reddy concluded.