Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay will launch the expanded Vettri Payanam scheme, offering free bus travel to women and transgender persons on 12,692 state-run buses, on Friday, October 2, coinciding with Gandhi Jayanti.
The expansion will extend the existing free travel facility beyond ordinary buses to include express, limited-stop and deluxe services in cities and towns. It will also cover ordinary mofussil buses and buses operating on hill routes across the state.
The scheme is expected to benefit around 84.32 lakh women daily, facilitating more than 1.65 lakh scheduled one-way trips. There will be no income limit or cap on the number of beneficiaries.
The expansion will bring 12,692 of Tamil Nadu’s 18,413 scheduled buses under the scheme, covering about 69 per cent of the fleet. The government has said the initiative aims to improve women’s access to workplaces, educational institutions and essential services by removing transport costs as a barrier.
Kerala’s Priyadarshini scheme
Tamil Nadu’s expansion comes after Kerala launched its own free bus travel scheme, Priyadarshini, on June 15. The scheme allows women and transgender persons to travel free on 3,125 ordinary buses operated by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), irrespective of income.
While Kerala’s scheme is currently limited to ordinary services, Tamil Nadu’s expanded programme will include express, limited-stop and deluxe buses, in addition to ordinary services. Both schemes provide free travel to women and transgender persons, with the respective state governments reimbursing transport corporations for the cost of implementation.
(With inputs from PTI, The New Indian Express, DT Next)
