Telangana: Congress Implements Free travel For Women In RTC

Immediately after the swearing-in ceremony happened today afternoon, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy held a high-level cabinet meeting with all 11 Ministers who took oath along with him. During this meeting, Revanth Reddy and his team of ministers reportedly discussed the implementation of various poll promises made by the party in the run-up to the elections.

Among the six guarantees made by the Congress Party, free travel for women in RTC is one of the widely popular sops that attracted the voters. Now, Revanth Reddy decided to implement this promise immediately to win the trust of the people of Telangana.

Reportedly, women of Telangana can avail of this scheme starting from December 9th by showing their Aadhaar card as proof of their identity. A government order to implement this scheme is likely to be out tomorrow as the RTC officials have already been informed to make necessary arrangements immediately.

It is well known that in neighbouring states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, where this scheme is already in force, the state road transport corporations are facing a lot of financial implications on the government exchequer. A team comprising some RTC officials is likely to be deployed to Karnataka to study how the scheme is being executed there.

If the scheme is to be implemented like in Karnataka, providing the facility both in express and ordinary services, the government should bear more than 2000 Crores a year. If it is confined only to Palle Velugu buses, it is estimated to cost Rs 750 crore annually. There is no clarity yet on what the government has in store with the detailed guidelines.