Women to be exempted from odd-even scheme: Delhi CM

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Saturday that women will be exempted from the odd-even road rationing scheme which is set to return in the national capital for the third time from November 4-15.

New Delhi: Women will be exempted from the odd-even road rationing scheme which is set to return in the national capital for the third time from November 4-15, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Saturday.

Unlike previous occasions, privately owned CNG vehicles will not be exempted this time, he said.

"Women driving alone, cars having all women as occupants and women accompanied by children aged less than 12 years will be exempted," Kejriwal said, adding that the decision has been taken keeping in mind their safety.

On the change in policy for CNG vehicles, the chief minister said, "In previous editions of odd-even, CNG vehicles were exempt. But we observed that the CNG stickers used to denote vehicles were sold in the black market and misused by some people to bypass the scheme. This defeats the purpose of odd-even."

A decision on whether two-wheelers should be exempted from the scheme or not is yet to be taken and we are consulting experts, he said.

"Two-wheelers do pollute the air and we believe they should not be exempt under odd-even. But at the same time given the number of two-wheelers in Delhi, it is impractical to take half of them off the roads. Delhi doesn't have such a large amount of vacant capacity in our public transport to be able to do that," he said.

The government is trying to resolve the contradiction on this issue, he said, adding that they are also trying to finalise the decision on having staggered office timings and consultations with experts on this are underway.

The Aam Aadmi Party supremo also encouraged people to opt for carpooling during the odd-even scheme and said even on the last two occasions, people had opted for it.

He said they are looking at what the quantum of fine shall be under the new Motor Vehicles Act.

"Our aim will not be too heavily fine violators, but to request them to follow the rule...But violators will be liable to pay fines as per the new Motor Vehicles Act. We are looking into what the quantum of the fine shall be," the chief minister said.

Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said the government will engage 2,000 private buses for the odd-even period for the additional load at Rs 50 per kilometer.

"We have also met with Uber and are going to meet other cab operators and have strictly warned them from indulging in indiscriminate surge pricing. Uber has committed to us that they will not permit more than 1.5 times the regular fare during the odd-even period," he said.