HYDERABAD: The Telangana government will roll out 449 more buses under the second phase of the Indira Mahila Shakti Scheme, expanding its initiative to make women’s groups bus owners and guaranteed earners.
This comes after the first phase, where the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) enabled 151 Mandal Mahila Samakhyas across 17 districts to purchase and operate buses leased to TGSRTC.
The Indira Mahila Shakti Scheme aims to strengthen women’s participation in Telangana’s economic landscape by building confidence.
Each bus costs Rs 36 lakh. Of this, Rs 6 lakh is contributed by the Mandal Mahila Samakhya from its own funds, and the remaining Rs 30 lakh is provided as a Community Investment Fund. TGSRTC pays a monthly rental of Rs 69,648 per bus of which Rs 19,648 goes towards operational expenditure and Rs 50,000 towards loan repayment.
Launched on International Women’s Day this year, the scheme has already enabled TGSRTC to release over Rs 5 crore to the 151 Mahila Samakhyas under Phase I.
“For us, it is more than free travel for women. Becoming owners of these buses is a matter of immense pride. Seeing the name of our Indira Mahila Shakti Mandal Samakhya on the bus gives us a sense of ownership,” said P Padma, president of the Mandal Samakhya, Eturnagaram, Mulugu district.