Thiruvananthapuram: In a major push for women's welfare, the state government is planning to extend its highly anticipated free KSRTC bus travel scheme for women to premium services after an initial pilot phase. Transport Minister C P John indicated that while the free travel will strictly be limited to ordinary buses for the first 100 days, extending the benefit to Fast and Superfast services is currently under active consideration.

The initiative is a cornerstone promise of the UDF government’s 'Indira Guarantee' and is officially scheduled to roll out on June 15. While KSRTC’s preliminary feasibility studies recommended restricting the launch to ordinary services to manage logistics, the government now intends to scale up the project progressively rather than keeping it limited.

However, the expansive welfare scheme comes with a staggering fiscal price tag. Fresh financial estimates reveal that implementing the free ride solely in ordinary buses will incur an additional financial burden of ₹712 crore per year to the state exchequer. Should the government extend the scheme across all KSRTC services as planned, the annual expenditure is projected to skyrocket to ₹1,300 crore.

An official announcement detailing the exact funding mechanisms and operational guidelines is expected on Wednesday following the weekly Cabinet meeting.