Free bus journey for ladies to roll out in Kerala from Monday amid issues over funds, attain | India Information
4 min learnJun 11, 2026 06:32 PM IST
The Congress authorities’s free bus journey scheme for ladies within the Kerala State Street Transport Company (KSRTC) is ready to roll out from Monday, with the profit restricted to bizarre providers — versus sooner and extra premium providers — operated by the financially struggling state-run transport company.
Free bus journey for ladies was among the many 5 “Indira Ensures” promised by the Congress-led UDF throughout the Meeting election marketing campaign. The scheme, named Priyadarshini, shall be out there to all ladies and transgender individuals with none age restriction.
Saying the choice on Wednesday, Chief Minister V D Satheesan stated the scheme could be carried out in phases. “That is the primary time such a scheme is being launched in Kerala. It’s anticipated to lead to a income lack of Rs 65-70 crore a month, or Rs 750-800 crore yearly, for KSRTC. The federal government will compensate the company for the loss,” he stated.
Satheesan stated the second section of the scheme could be thought of after assessing KSRTC’s monetary place. “The scheme shall be reviewed each month. There’s a scarcity of bizarre KSRTC buses in north Kerala, and steps shall be taken to deal with it. District-wise knowledge on ladies passengers utilizing bizarre providers may also be reviewed and factored into future selections,” he stated.
The scheme comes at a time when KSRTC continues to rely closely on authorities assist. Based on official figures, the state spends round Rs 1,500 crore yearly in the direction of the salaries of about 22,000 staff and pensions of practically 40,000 retirees. Authorities help stays essential because the company is unable to fulfill its operational bills by way of service income alone.
Dwindling fleet
Of KSRTC’s fleet of round 4,250 buses, solely about 3,000 are bizarre providers, lots of them over a decade previous. The focus of the fleet in south Kerala, notably in Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam districts, is predicted to restrict the scheme’s attain within the northern districts. Official knowledge present that almost 1,400 of KSRTC’s 4,000-plus buses are deployed in Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam.
The State Financial Evaluation 2025, tabled within the Meeting in January, famous that KSRTC had 4,252 buses in service, working 4,195 day by day schedules. In distinction, the company had a fleet energy of 5,953 buses in 2016-17. The evaluate factors to a gradual decline in bus providers over the previous decade, with practically 60% of the fleet older than 10 years. The typical fleet operated throughout 2024-25 stood at 4,609 buses, with a median age of 12.5 years. Frequent breakdowns and repair cancellations have turn out to be widespread, notably in bizarre providers that depend on older buses.
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Non-public bus operators have additionally expressed concern over the scheme. Of Kerala’s 16,500 bus routes, round 11,000 are operated by non-public gamers, lots of whom compete straight with KSRTC. They concern that free journey for ladies in state-run buses may erode their passenger base and income.
The rollout comes amid a broader decline within the state’s reliance on public highway transport. Information on automobile registrations present that the variety of registered automobiles practically doubled from 94.2 lakh in 2015 to 174.1 lakh in 2024. As of March 2025, Kerala had 182 lakh registered automobiles, up 4.55% from the earlier yr. Two-wheelers accounted for 118.67 lakh of the entire automobile inhabitants.
