Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Saturday inaugurated 100 new buses of state-owned Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC).
The Corporation said that it is bringing new buses into service in view of the increased number of passengers following implementation of Mahalakshmi scheme for free bus travel by women.
The TSRTC has plans to bring 1,325 new buses into operation in a phased manner by June this year.
These include 712 Palle Velugu, 400 Express, 75 Deluxe and 138 Lahari/Rajdhani buses.
While some buses have already started operating, 100 new buses were flagged off by Chief Minister Revant Reddy at B.R. Ambedkar statue on Saturday Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, ministers Ponnam Prabhakar, Komatireddy Venkat Reddy, D. Sridhar Babu, Seethakka, some MLAs and TSRTC Managing Director V.C. Sajjanar attended the programme.
The Chief Minister handed over to Sajjanar a cheque of Rs 535 crore towards travel of 15 crore women in 60 days after the launch of Mahalakshmi scheme.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that TSRTC employees played a key role in the Telangana movement. He claimed that the Mahalakshmi scheme was launched to financially strengthen TSRTC.
Revanth Reddy noted that first of the six guarantees of Congress government were implemented by TSRTC employees through Mahalakshmi.
He congratulated the TSRTC staff for successfully implementing the scheme within 48 hours of its announcement.
The Chief Minister said the implementation of Mahalakshmi scheme is costing Rs 13 crore every day.
Though it has imposed a financial burden of Rs 300 to 400 crore every month on the government, he assured that the government will continue the scheme.
He also announced that free bus travel facility will also be available for women participating in the Sammakka-Saralamma tribal fair.
He mentioned that 90 of the new buses are Express buses, which will be used for the Mahalakshmi scheme.
He also congratulated TSRTC for introducing for the first time 10 AC Rajdhani buses on the Hyderabad-Srisailam route.
He said the government would release Rs 280 crore to clear the pending dues to TSRTC staff.
Sajjanar stated that a proposal has been sent to the government to purchase 2,200 additional buses in view of the increased rush of passengers due to implementation of Mahalakshmi scheme. Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said that with the implementation of Mahalakshmi, every TSRTC is crowded with passengers.
He said the government was regularly releasing funds to TSRTC for implementation of the scheme.