In a referendum conducted by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that lasted 10 days, it has been found that 90.8 per cent people are in favour of the free metro ride for women, said party’s Delhi convener Gopal Rai.

Rai said the finding was based on a survey conducted by his party legislators, municipal councillors and women wing over a period of ten days with more than 71,000 people participating in it.

Earlier this month, the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had asked all its Member of Legislative Assembly (MLAs), to hold public meetings to take feedback from the residents of Delhi about the ‘free fare scheme for women’ in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) bus and metro trains.

 “We met all the sections of society. The party held 1,120 meetings and found that out of 71,572 people, as many as 64,972 were in favour of the free rides for women in metros and buses,” he said..

The party wants to implement the proposal as soon as possible, he said, adding that the report of the survey would be submitted to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. “The DMRC gave two proposals, one of them being the issuance of pink cards for women. The DMRC said it would take about eight months to implement the proposal but we would like to enforce it as soon as possible,” he said.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had on June 3 announced his government’s decision to provide for free travel for women in Delhi’s public transport buses and Metro trains.

Setting aside fears of overcrowding in metro trains due to the provision for free travel of women, Kejriwal had said the step will not lead to any congestion as the daily ridership will increase by just one lakh. Currently, 25 lakh people travel by metro daily.