Vidiyal Payanam: Women took 571 crore trips worth Rs 9,144 crore till Oct

CHENNAI: Ever since the launch of Vidiyal Payanam, the scheme offering free bus travel for women, in 2021, they have taken 570 crore trips worth an estimated Rs 9,143 crore on State-run transport corporation buses, the Tamil Nadu government said on Saturday.

In a statement on Saturday trumpeting the achievements of the Transport Department in the present regime, the government said women have taken 570.86 crore trips till October 31, which works out to an average of 57.07 lakh trips per day. The estimated cost of the free trips undertaken by the women under the Vidiyal Payanam scheme so far is Rs 9,143.70 crore, it said.

Citing a field study done by the State Planning Commission on the impact of the scheme launched after the DMK returned to power in May 2021, the government claimed that women availing the benefits of the free bus ride scheme save an average Rs 888 per person in their monthly expense.

The statement added that 725 buses were being operated on 399 newly opened routes/extended routes in addition to revival of 638 bus services on 519 old routes.

Also, measures were taken to procure 8,682 buses, and as many as 2,578 new buses were procured and dedicated to public use till October 31.

Noting that about Rs 130 crore and Rs 76.34 crore, respectively, were allotted for refurbishing 1,000 and 500 old buses in 2022-23 and 2023-24 financial years, the government said that about 1,310 old buses were refurbished till the end of October.

Referring to the various initiatives taken to improve the safety for women travelling on MTC buses, the government claimed that safety features like CCTV surveillance and emergency call buttons were fixed in 2,330 MTC buses and 63 places, including workshops and bus termini in the city. Steps have been taken to extend the facilities to other transport corporations, the release added.