CHENNAI:
The expanded ‘Vetri Payanam’ scheme received an enthusiastic response from women passengers as Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay launched the statewide extension at the Koyambedu bus terminus on Thursday, with several beneficiaries saying the move would provide significant relief to families and make daily travel more affordable.
The scheme, launched on the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary, extends free bus travel for women beyond ordinary city and town services to a wider range of government buses. Women can now travel free of cost on eligible Express, Limited Stop Service (LSS) and Deluxe buses in metropolitan and urban areas, besides ordinary mofussil buses and ordinary buses operating on hill routes beyond 40 km.
Women passengers at Koyambedu said the expansion would be particularly useful for those who travel long distances regularly for work, education, medical treatment and other essential needs.
“This will be a big relief for women like us who depend on buses every day. Even a small amount spent on bus fare every day becomes a considerable expense at the end of the month. Free travel will help us save that money,” said a woman passenger at the Koyambedu bus terminus.
Another passenger said the wider coverage would make the scheme more useful than the earlier arrangement. “Earlier, free travel was available only on certain buses. Now, if more services are covered, we will have more options while travelling. This will be especially helpful when we have to go to another town,” she said.
Women working in the city also welcomed the move, saying commuting expenses form a significant part of their monthly household expenditure. “I travel by bus to work every day. The money saved on travel can be used for other household requirements. For working women, this is not just about free travel but also about reducing our regular expenses,” said another beneficiary.
Students were among those who expressed happiness over the expansion. Several said the scheme would help those travelling from their hometowns to colleges located several kilometres away. The availability of eligible services for longer-distance travel is expected to make daily commuting easier for students who otherwise have to depend on private buses or spend a substantial amount on transport.
Women travelling for medical treatment also said the scheme would be beneficial. “Medical expenses themselves can be high. When we have to travel repeatedly to a hospital, bus fare becomes an additional burden. Free travel will help patients and their attendants manage the expense better,” said a passenger.
The expanded scheme covers 12,692 government buses operated by the seven State Transport Undertakings. This accounts for around 69 per cent of the 18,413 scheduled buses operated by the State transport corporations. Nearly 1.65 lakh scheduled trips, or about 85 per cent of the total scheduled services, have been brought under the scheme.
The government estimates that around 84.32 lakh women will benefit from the facility every day. There is no income ceiling and no restriction on the number of journeys that an eligible woman can undertake. Transgender persons are also covered under the scheme.
The scheme is expected to be particularly useful for women travelling between neighbouring towns. Eligible Express services can be used for longer journeys, with passengers able to change buses at different points and continue their journey depending on the availability of covered services.
Routes including Tiruchirappalli-Dindigul, Thanjavur-Nagapattinam, Coimbatore-Erode, Erode-Salem, Madurai-Virudhunagar and Tirunelveli-Nagercoil are among those where women can benefit from the expanded facility.
The State government has estimated an annual expenditure of around Rs.6,000 crore for the scheme. Electronic ticketing machines in the covered buses have already been integrated with the programme, while trial runs and verification exercises were conducted before the statewide rollout.
The original free travel programme, introduced as ‘Magalir Vidiyal Payanam’, allowed women to travel free in eligible ordinary government buses in urban areas. The TVK government renamed the expanded programme ‘Vetri Payanam’ and announced its wider implementation in the Assembly in August.
With the statewide expansion coming into effect on October 2, women passengers said the real benefit would be felt in their everyday journeys. For many, the scheme means one less expense to worry about each day — whether travelling to work, college, a hospital or simply to meet essential family needs.