Thiruvananthapuram: The free travel scheme for women and transgender persons in KSRTC buses will commence on June 15, Chief Minister V D Satheesan announced. The initiative has been named the ‘Priyadarshini’ scheme. The final decision regarding the implementation was taken during the Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday. Speaking to the media after the meeting, the Chief Minister stated that the scheme will initially be rolled out exclusively in ordinary buses.

The project will be implemented in ordinary buses for the first 100 days on an experimental basis. A decision on extending the scheme to other categories of buses will be made after evaluating its performance during this initial phase. To ensure maximum accessibility, the government has confirmed that there will be no age or income criteria required to avail of this benefit, making the service entirely free for all women and transgender passengers across the state.

"In accordance with the decision taken during the first Cabinet meeting as part of the state government's 'Indira Guarantee' scheme, approval has been granted to implement the free travel scheme for all women, regardless of age, and transgender individuals in KSRTC ordinary services starting June 15," the Chief Minister announced during the press conference.

Free travel for women in KSRTC buses was one of the major electoral promises made by the UDF in its manifesto. The UDF Cabinet, with V D Satheesan as Chief Minister, had taken a decision on this matter during its very first Cabinet meeting and announced it in its debut press conference.

Transport Minister C P John had previously assured the media that the government would fully bear the financial liability of providing free travel to women, and KSRTC employees need not have any concerns regarding this. Today's decision brings clarity on the specific categories of buses eligible for the free service.

All women will be eligible for free travel, and the benefit will also extend to transgender individuals. KSRTC will collect data on the number of women passengers on a daily basis. The corporation will calculate the monthly financial liability incurred through the scheme and submit reports to the government, which will subsequently reimburse the losses.

The implementation of free travel for women in ordinary buses is estimated to incur an annual financial burden of ₹750–800 crore. If the scheme is extended to other categories of buses, the required budget will rise to ₹1300 crore.

Currently, extending the free travel facility to superclass services, starting from Fast Passenger buses, reportedly is not under consideration.