The chief minister of India’s capital Delhi created a minor sensation when he announced that women would no longer have to pay for public transport.

Arvind Kejriwal said that free rides on city buses and the metro would help improve women’s safety in the city.

Delhi reports some of the highest numbers of rape in India. The 2012 gang rape and murder of a student on a bus in the city sparked massive protests.

However not everyone is convinced that Mr Kejriwal’s proposal will help.

Dinesh Mohan, a transport expert with the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, told the BBC that making public transport free wouldn’t solve the problem.

“You need to think about the entire journey and not just the metro – you have to take into account how safe or unsafe sidewalks are and what the journey to the metro station is like in the first place. So if the idea is to make it safer for women, that experience has to be continuous. Safety can’t begin and end at the metro station. I don’t see any thought behind this initiative yet.”

The Delhi metro already reserves a coach exclusively for women on every train it runs.

On social media, the proposal caused a great deal of debate as well.

Many people, including economists and columnists, dismissed the idea and some women even said that they would continue to pay to ride the metro.

Arvind Kejriwal is proof that in India educated politicians are as likely to promote daft ideas as uneducated ones. pic.twitter.com/yzVe9SWW15

End of Twitter post by @dhume

Wow Kejriwal Ji! What a move.
Is this the reaction you expect from Women in Delhi?

Sorry to disappoint you but please take a note,we don’t sell our votes for free metro and bus rides.

#DelhiMetro

End of Twitter post by @prernabhardwaj_

I have started traveling more frequently in delhi metro these days and so does my daughter. But we will pay for our tkts. Dont need #FreeRidesForHer ?? If we are capable of paying, we MUST pay…

End of Twitter post by @richaanirudh

However the proposal also had its share of defenders.

Women in Delhi will get a free ride on buses and the metro. What a wonderful idea @ArvindKejriwal ! Will Mumbai emulate this? All the trouble we are going through for the construction of the metro will then be worth it.

End of Twitter post by @PritishNandy

Freedom for women to work in far flung areas, get there safely, spend leisure time in this beautiful city, will not only increase per capita income dramatically over time, it's an issue of basic rights. Brilliant move. #Metro #DelhiMetro #FreedomnotProtection https://t.co/HoKxrx8yYt

End of Twitter post by @karunanundy

A large number of women are not allowed to go out of the house – for studies, jobs, or other reasons, because their families can't afford safe transport. The free travel offered by Delhi CM @ArvindKejriwal will enable these girls to step out. #AAP4EaseOfLiving #DelhiMetro https://t.co/hTuk2HvnWy

End of Twitter post by @PreetiSMenon

Over years Delhi has been the focus with regards to the safety of women. The #FreeRidesForHer initiative by @ArvindKejriwal is not just an economic solution, it is a safety solution. Women who go out together in large numbers will find safety in each other.

End of Twitter post by @hiyer

Despite Mr Kejriwal’s announcement, women will have to wait a while to see if it is actually implemented.

The proposal still has to be approved by the federal government because it is an equity partner along with the Delhi government in the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation.

But Mr Kejriwal has said that the federal government’s permission is not necessary as the Delhi government will bear the cost.

Delhi transport minister Kailash Gahlot said since this qualifies as a subsidy, they did not require any such permission.

Some have dismissed the entire thing as a pre-election gimmick by Mr Kejriwal – Delhi will hold state assembly elections next year.

Mr Kejriwal please no freebies in d name of empowerment. Stop treating us as vote banks. This country has suffered enough coz of vote bank politics #ArvindKejriwal

Buses, Metro may be free for women in Delhi | Delhi News – Times of India https://t.co/TvbqK520xY

End of Twitter post by @manchandamegha

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has not officially reacted to the news. But the Times of India newspaper quoted a “source” in the department as saying that implementing the proposal, if it came to pass, would be “difficult”.

Architect and urban planner Sonal Shah said on Twitter that a number of factors had to be taken into consideration for women’s safety to be addressed effectively. She said that transport access was “not equal for men and women”, adding that a number of existing issues with public transport had to be addressed first.

3/4 There are so many issues with existing bus travel. Address safe and reliable travel first: safer waiting environments at bus stops, real-time passenger information systems, a complaints reporting and redress system, behaviour of drivers, conductors, bus marshals scheme.

End of Twitter post by @Abaezgrace

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