CHENNAI: Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Monday chaired a meeting at the secretariat to review the preparations for launching the expanded free bus travel scheme for women, ‘Vettri Payanam’, on October 2.
Under ‘Vettri Payanam’, the facility will be expanded to Express, Limited stop service and Deluxe buses operating in cities and towns, Mofussil Ordinary buses and Ghat Ordinary buses operating on hill routes beyond 40 km.
A total of 12,692 buses will be brought under the scheme, benefiting around 84.32 lakh women every day. The integration of the buses covered under ‘Vettri Payanam’ with electronic ticketing machines (ETMs) has been completed.
Testing and verification are scheduled to be completed by September 25, while trial runs will be conducted on September 27. As the model code of conduct is in effect in Chengalpattu and Tiruppur districts for bypolls to Madurantakam and Dharapuram seats, the scheme will be implemented in these districts once the MCC is lifted.