CHENNAI: Transport Minister, SS Sivasankar, announced in the assembly on Wednesday measures will be taken to reduce the retirement age of transport corporation employees to 58 years, considering their health condition. He also said town buses will be operated in hilly areas to enable women passengers to avail of free bus service.
Sivasankar highlighted the success of the free ride for women, with 259.8 crore rides being made by women passengers across the state. According to a study conducted by the state planning commission, women passengers have benefitted from an average of Rs 600 to Rs 1,500 per month from this free bus ride.
Responding to the charges of AIADMK members that the government did not purchase any new busses for the transport department, the minister said legal hurdles pending with the court were preventing the state government from the floating tender. Now, the tender process has been started to procure new buses and the busses will run on the road at the earliest.
He further recalled the former AIADMK government had purchased only around 14,000 buses during the last 10 years (between 2011- 2021) while the DMK-led government between 2006 and 2011 had procured around 15,000 new busses. He said the former DMK government recruited more than 48,000 drivers and conductors while the AIADMK government had recruited only around 38,000 employees for the corporation, he said.
The minister said to ensure the safety of women passengers on state-run buses, CCTV cameras have been installed in more than 2,500 buses, with action being taken against a driver for misbehaviour on duty.
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