PALAKKAD/KOCHI: Transport minister CP John has courted controversy with his remarks on women passengers using KSRTC buses under the Priyadarshini free travel scheme. The minister later issued a clarification that his comments were intended as a critique of society and not of women.The minister, while inaugurating the state conference of the Kerala bus transport association in Palakkad, said that women were crowding KSRTC buses operating under the Priyadarshini scheme because they did not have money to pay the fare, but they were sending their children to expensive private schools.“When Priyadarshini service was introduced, women started crowding these buses. It is because housewives do not have money in their hands,” John said.“There are vacant seats in govt schools, yet parents choose fee-charging private schools because they believe quality education is essential to overcome poverty. Furthermore, when someone falls sick, they don’t go to private hospitals, instead, they lie on the verandas of crowded govt hospitals. The behaviour of people in Kerala is truly astonishing,” John said.His observations drew swift backlash from opposition parties and rights groups, who labelled the comments “misogynistic”.Responding to the controversy, John said his speech was misunderstood and that he was, in fact, making a self-critical observation on the failure of political leaders to understand the hardships of Kerala’s working class.“The homemakers often sacrifice personal comfort and stretch tight household budgets to fund their children’s private education, making free public transport an essential economic relief rather than a preference,” he said.Maintaining that he has nothing to apologize for, he stated that political leaders must acknowledge these social and economic pressures rather than ignoring them.
