Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy will flag-off the Maha Lakshmi free bus scheme for women and third gender persons at the State Assembly around 1.30 pm here on Saturday. The scheme will be applicable on city ordinary, express, metro express and Palle Velugu buses.
As regards interstate travel, the scheme will be applicable only up to the state borders.
After the party announced the Six Guarantees during the recent election campaign, women were curious about this particular facility.
Only women from Telangana would be eligible to avail the service after furnishing valid identity cards to confirm their residence proof like Aadhaar card, driver licence or voter ID card. They will be issued a ‘zero ticket’ in the bus. There is no distance limit on intra-state services.
Around 40 per cent of the 7,292 buses that are operated presently are utilised by women. The percentage may increase after the scheme gathers pace. The state government will reimburse the chargeable fares to TSRTC.
Plans are afoot to get 1,050 new buses to meet the increase in passenger patronage, an official said.
Women can board any permitted service t any time in as many as 7,292 buses being operated across the state.
The facility would be streamlined once the travel pattern was analyzed. The State government will reimburse the expenditure to TSRTC towards chargeable fares, which would have been collected on the basis of actual distance travelled by women passengers, officials said.
