Chennai, 02 Oct (H.S.):Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay will launch the expanded Vetri Payanam free bus travel scheme for women at the Koyambedu bus terminus in Chennai at 10 a.m. on Friday, extending coverage to additional government bus services across the State.
The expanded programme will cover 12,695 buses operated by seven State transport corporations and is expected to benefit approximately 84.32 lakh women daily. Transgender passengers will also be eligible for free travel.
The scheme was introduced by the previous DMK government, offering women free travel on ordinary metropolitan and city government buses. Existing coverage also included hill services for journeys of up to 40 kilometres.
Under the expansion, women can travel free on Express, LSS and Deluxe government buses operating in metropolitan and urban areas, suburban government buses and hill services covering distances beyond 40 kilometres.
There will be no income ceiling or restrictions on the number of journeys beneficiaries can undertake. The government estimates the annual expenditure on the programme at Rs 6,000 crore.
Vijay announced the expansion in the Assembly on August 24 through a statement under Rule 110, following an election promise to extend free travel for women to all government buses. He also indicated that coverage would gradually be widened to other services.
Of the 18,413 buses operated by the seven transport corporations, 12,695 will be brought under the expanded scheme. Around 1,68,500 daily trips will be covered, substantially increasing the availability of free transport for eligible passengers.
Preparations for the rollout have been completed, including integration of the electronic ticketing machines used on participating buses. Testing and verification were completed towards the end of last month, while a trial run was conducted on August 27.
Following Friday’s inauguration, the expanded free travel facility will become available on covered services throughout Tamil Nadu.
---------------
Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman