India, July 13 -- As Karnataka's Shakti scheme, which offers free bus travel for women, approaches a staggering 500 crore tickets within two years of its rollout, a social media post has sparked a fresh debate over who is benefitting from the scheme.

The discussion began with an X post by a user named Avinash, who raised questions about salaried professionals taking advantage of the free service. "I see lots of women working in IT jobs earning good salaries taking free BMTC buses," he wrote. "When I asked a friend of mine, she said she's saving Rs.1,000 to Rs.1,300 per month commuting between HSR Layout and Bellandur. My question is, will they really switch to the Metro Blue Line once it opens?"

The post quickly went viral, triggering a...