Free bus scheme in AP from Aug 15

Vijayawada: Free bus service for women, one of the Super Six promises made by the NDA alliance government during the elections, is likely to be launched from August 15 in Andhra Pradesh.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu will hold a review meeting with APSRTC and Transport officials on Monday. The officials will be presenting their report on the issues related to the implementation of the scheme.

The officials had visited Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to study how those governments were implementing the free bus scheme. The government will discuss the norms of the free bus facility during the Monday meeting.

As per official sources, the APSRTC will face an additional burden of around Rs 250 crore per month. It is estimated that about 15 lakh women would be travelling by RTC buses every day. Officials are of the view that the scheme should be implemented in select category of services only. Officials are likely to recommend that the scheme be restricted to Palle Velugu, Express, Ultra Deluxe and City Bus services in Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam. It is also felt that once the scheme was introduced the occupancy rate would jump from present 70 percent to 90 percent, they said.