TIRUCHY: With the Tamil Nadu government already spending nearly Rs 4,000 crore annually on its flagship free bus travel scheme, TVK president Vijay’s poll promise to extend the benefit across all TNSTC services for women has reignited debate over the financial sustainability of welfare expansion and its impact on the state’s loss-making transport corporations.
Under the ‘Vidiyal Payanam’ scheme, women, transgender persons, PwDs and their attendants are entitled to free travel on select ordinary services operated by the TNSTC. While transport unions broadly support the existing scheme, opinions remain divided on extending it to mofussil and long-distance routes.
The 2026-27 interim budget increased the allocation for the scheme from Rs 3,600 crore to Rs 4,000 crore. The overall allocation for the transport department, meanwhile, rose marginally from Rs 12,964 crore to Rs 13,062 crore.
Government data show that women have undertaken nearly 730 crore free journeys over the past four years, with more than 55 lakh beneficiaries using the service daily and saving an estimated `800 to `1,500 a month.
Arumugam Nainar, general secretary of the TN State Transport Employees Federation, welcomed the scheme, noting that several countries had adopted forms of free public transport to boost ridership.
However he cautioned that if free travel is extended to all services, including mofussil routes, the compensation requirement could rise to nearly Rs 20,000 crore.
Nehru Durai, Tiruchy president of the TNSTC’s AITUC union, said, “Rather than expanding the scheme, the government should prioritise fleet modernisation, tyre procurement and maintenance.”
Backing TVK’s proposal, Senthil Kumar, a functionary of the party’s bus workers’ union, said curbing corruption could generate the resources needed to sustain the welfare measure.
Attempts to contact Transport Minister A Vijay Tamizhan Parthiban for comment were unsuccessful.