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Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay is set to launch the expanded free bus travel scheme for women, 'Vetri Payanam', on October 2. Under this programme, free travel for women on 12,692 government buses operating across the State will be extended. The scheme was announced in the Assembly on August 24 and its preparations were reviewed at a meeting on September 21.
Tamil Nadu's Free Bus Travel Scheme for Women has been Expanded
The government has said the expansion is aimed at ensuring that women do not miss out on education, employment, healthcare and other opportunities because of transportation costs. At present, women can travel free on ordinary city buses operated by Tamil Nadu's seven State transport corporations. The facility also covers ordinary hill buses operating on routes of up to 40 km.
How will this Initiative Benefit Women in Commuting?
Under 'Vetri Payanam', the benefit will be extended to more categories of government buses. These include Express, LSS and Deluxe buses operating in metropolitan and urban areas. Mofussil ordinary buses and hill ordinary buses operating beyond 40 km will also be covered.
The scheme is expected to benefit around 84.32 lakh women every day. The 12,692 buses included in the programme represent about 69 percent of the 18,413 scheduled buses operated by the seven State transport corporations. These buses will account for 1,65,312 single trips out of the total 1,94,649 scheduled single trips, or around 85 percent of all such services.
The government expects the expanded service to particularly help women travelling to workplaces, students attending colleges located far from their homes, and those travelling for medical treatment and other essential services.
Preparations for implementing the scheme are also underway. The integration of the covered buses with Electronic Ticketing Machines (ETMs) has been completed. System testing and verification are scheduled to finish by September 25, while trial runs will be conducted on September 27, ahead of the October 2 launch.