A press conference was organized by “The Parallel Force” and Women Lead to commemorate the launch of free bus services for women throughout West Bengal on June 1, 2026. The BJP-led West Bengal government approved the initiative, which the organization hailed as a historic step toward women’s economic inclusion, mobility, and empowerment.

With the implementation of this policy, West Bengal has become the 8th state in India to offer free public bus travel for women. Women participants, activists, and supporters came together to celebrate what is being called a revolutionary social welfare move that will have a lasting effect on women in both urban and rural communities.

The event also signaled the end of more than ten years of nonstop lobbying and advocacy by organizations and groups that support accessible and reasonably priced mobility for women.

In order to commemorate the start of what the organization called a new era of accessible mobility for women, women participants in the press conference at the Press Club participated in a symbolic bus boarding activity from the Press Club premises.

The event demonstrated how persistent advocacy can result in significant policy change and delivered a powerful message about the significance of accessible, safe, and reasonably priced transportation as a fundamental component of women’s empowerment in India. The implementation in West Bengal, according to speakers, is the culmination of ten years of work to put women’s economic independence and mobility at the forefront of public policy debates.

Rekha Mody, founder of Stree Shakti, The Parallel Force, described the policy as a big game changer, and said, “A free bus travel pass for women removes the burden of cost from women with limited resources, allowing them to venture out freely. In our society, women bear three burdens. We applaud the BJP for launching free bus travel on June 1st, 2026, and we hope it will soon be available in states like Assam, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and others. We hope that West Bengal’s implementation of free bus travel for women, which makes it the eighth state to do so, will inspire other states to do the same”.

The organization cited research showing that women from lower-income backgrounds spend a significant amount of their annual personal expenditure on travel and unforeseen transportation costs to highlight the initiative’s economic significance. According to Stree Shakti, free public transportation could help women save about Rs. 24,000 a year, which is a significant financial relief that could be used for family welfare, healthcare, education, and nutrition.

West Bengal is the eighth state in the nation to offer free bus travel benefits to women, joining a growing movement that acknowledges mobility as a critical enabler of women’s social inclusion, economic participation, education, and safety.

For more details, visit: www.streeshakti.com

Priyanka Dutta