CM mulls 50% fare concession for women in private sector

Bicholim: Chief minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday said that state govt is considering a 50% bus fare concession to women employed in the private sector in Goa. He said that the move is meant to cut down the expenditure on travel made by women, to encourage them to take up jobs in the private sector.Sawant relaunched the Mhaji Bus Scheme and fuel and insurance subsidy drive in Bicholim and Sattari talukas, a Rs 3/km operational subsidy, and a Rs 10 lakh one-time grant to private bus owners to replace old buses.Sawant said that with this aid of Rs 3/km, if a bus runs up to 200km per day under the scheme, the bus owner would be able to earn an average income of Rs 2.20 lakh per month.The CM said that bus operators would also get 50% of their insurance premium reimbursed, free ticketing machines, and KTCL smart card support.

Some swipe machines were handed over to bus owners on Saturday. Sawant said that the card provided by KTC authorities can be also used in buses running under scheme, which will help bus owners earn more profit.Besides this, a real-time bus tracking app, ‘Bus On The Go’, will be introduced, he said. “Goa will be the first state in the nation to digitalise bus services with the help of a novel technology under the scheme,” said Sawant.

He also said that private buses would also be extended govt ad revenue and branding support. “This is a big step towards modern, inclusive, and self-reliant public transport in Goa,” said Sawant.At the programme at Sanquelim, Sawant distributed approval letters of 50% of the pending arrears for diesel to bus owners, and promised to release the balance 50% payment in two months.Sawant also asked bus operators not to overtake other buses in a bid to get the more passengers in. He said that if a bus operator is seen regularly running on a route, govt may even take a KTC bus off the route.The CM said that the idea behind improving public transport is to reduce the movement of private vehicles, which will ultimately help reduce accidents.