Top News

Free bus scheme increased RTC bus occupancy to 98 pc : Ponnam Prabhakar

24htopnews | March 18, 2026 7:41 PM CST

Hyderabad: Telangana Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar on Wednesday, March 18, said that the Mahalakshmi free bus scheme has increased occupancy in RTC buses up to 98 per cent from the earlier 69 per cent.

He said that the initiative has helped women secure employment opportunities by travelling longer distances and that it was unfortunate that people were spreading misinformation about the scheme on social media.

మహిళలకు ఉచిత బస్సు పథకం అనేది మహిళా సంక్షేమంలో ఒక కీలక పథకం. ప్రభుత్వం ఏర్పడిన 48 గంటల్లో ఈ పథకాన్ని అమలు చేసి ఆర్టీసీ ఆక్యుపెన్సీని 69% నుంచి 98%కు పెంచింది. మహిళలకు ఉపాధి అవకాశాలు పెరిగి, ఆదాయం కూడా మెరుగుపడుతోంది. ఈ పథకంపై విపక్షాలు, సోషల్ మీడియాలో తప్పుడు ప్రచారం చేయడం… pic.twitter.com/1nYXvOcdXh
— Telangana Congress (@INCTelangana) March 18, 2026

Replying to a question in the Legislative Council, the minister said that the free bus scheme, which was launched within 48 hours of the Congress government coming to power, has helped 279.97 crore women avail free trips between December 9, 2023, and February 28, 2026.

He said that the daily ridership of women is touching nearly 60 lakh. To support the scheme, the government released Rs 3,866.30 crore in 2024–25 and Rs 2,913.82 crore up to February 26 in 2025–26 to the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation.

Prabhakar also said that the Congress government reduced TGSRTC’s Credit Cooperative Society (CCS) dues from Rs 664 crore to Rs 300 crore and brought down Provident Fund dues from Rs 1,350 crore to Rs 600 crore.

The government also cleared 2013 Revised Pay Scale (RPS) bonds, incurring an expenditure of Rs 280 crore, leading the once financially strained TGSRTC towards stabilty, the minister said.

The minister added that the state government is planning to set up 37 Automated Testing Stations in district headquarters, which will be entirely under government control with no involvement of private agencies.

He said administrative approvals for the project were issued by the Transport, Roads and Buildings Department on September 30, 2024, and the process of establishing the ATS facilities is currently in its final stage.

The ATS facilities will be made available in two phases, with 15 centres being unveiled in the first phase and 22 in the second. Phasing out manual intervention with automated technology will help increase transparency in issuing driving licenses, Prabhakar added.