TVK government changes the name of free bus travel scheme for women

The TVK government has changed the name of the free bus travel scheme for women from ‘Mahalir Vidiyal Payanam’, as it was named by the DMK government, to ‘Magalir Payanam’.

Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) buses sported ‘Magalir Payanam’ boards on Thursday. The word, ‘Vidiyal’, has been removed from the ordinary-fare buses meant for the scheme.

A senior official of the Transport Department said the MTC branch managers had been instructed to implement the name change across all the ordinary-fare buses.

After assuming office on May 7, 2021, the M.K. Stalin-led DMK government implemented ‘Vidiyal Payanam’ for women to travel free on white-board buses. The scheme covered more than 7,300 ordinary-fare buses out of the 9,000 city buses operated by the State Transport Corporations. In Chennai alone, women have been availing themselves of free travel on 1,500 ordinary-fare buses, a senior official of the MTC said.

Meanwhile, DMK leader and former Minister Thangam Thennarasu wrote on X, “You can change the name; but history cannot be changed.”

In his post, he said that renaming the ‘Mahalir Vidiyal Payanam’ scheme, which had brought about a significant change in the lives of women, was not an administrative measure meant for public welfare; it was merely an attempt to erase political identities. The success of a scheme would not be determined by its name; it would be determined by the progress it had brought about in the lives of the people. The time and energy spent on name changes should be invested in new schemes to improve the people’s livelihood and strengthening services, he added.