Kerala Cabinet decides to implement free travel concession for women on KSRTC’s ordinary services from June 15

The Kerala Cabinet on Wednesday decided to implement the free bus travel scheme for women in ordinary services of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses from June 15 onwards.

Chief Minister V.D.Satheesan, who announced the decision at a press conference here following the Cabinet meeting, said the scheme is being limited to ordinary services in the first phase. The scheme titled ‘Priyadarshini’ was one of the five ‘Indira guarantees’ which the United Democratic Front (UDF) promised during the recent Assembly election campaign.

Mr. Satheesan said the concession will be available to women of all ages and irrespective of their financial background. The implementation will add an additional annual financial burden of ₹750-₹800 crore for the KSRTC.

“The State government will provide the additional amount required for the KSRTC to implement the scheme, in addition to the ₹1,500 crore being provided annually now. We have asked the KSRTC to take the necessary steps to increase its revenue in the coming six months. More vehicles, more schedules and more advertisements will be put out as part of measures to increase revenue,” he said.

He said the concession would be limited to ordinary buses in the first phases, but changes will be made as per the response at a later stage. The scheme would be reviewed every month and issues would be addressed if anything crops up.

On being asked about the lack of ordinary buses in the Malabar region, especially Malappuram district which has no ordinary services, he said the KSRTC runs only 28% services in the district and the majority depends more on private buses.