Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu C. Joseph Vijaya announced a significant boost to women on Gandhi Jayanti. He launched the “Vetri Payanam” scheme, which provides free bus travel for women. The government said the expansion will benefit more than 8.4 million women every day, enabling them to use deluxe and express bus services. There will be no income limit for the beneficiaries to avail this service, nor will there be any restrictions on the number of daily rides.
In fact, this welfare scheme named after the ruling party – ‘Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam’ – means “Victory Journey” (Vetri Payanam) for women. The scheme involves 12,695 buses of seven state transport corporations and is expected to benefit around 84.32 lakh women daily. During the event, the Chief Minister interacted with the passengers and officially launched this welfare initiative by distributing free bus tickets to them.
Speaking on the occasion, Transport Minister A. Vijay Tamilan Parthiban said that the aim of this initiative is to provide free bus travel to women and transgender people, so that their education, employment, livelihood and economic empowerment can be supported, and travel costs should not be a hindrance to their progress. He said the scheme was a means of promoting equality and ensuring there should be no discrimination in travel rights. Parthiban described the initiative as a “social revolution” aimed at empowering women to think freely, step out of the house and contribute to the development of the state.