BENGALURU: The Congress government, which launched free bus services for women under the Shakti scheme as part of its election promise, has now announced free travel for people with visual impairments. Visually impaired individuals can henceforth travel for free on buses of all four state-run transport corporations.
The Shakti scheme, a significant guarantee initiative by the government, has gained immense popularity. Building on the success of the scheme for women, the government has now extended a similar benefit to people with visual impairment.
Earlier, visually impaired individuals could only travel for free on buses of the corporation that issued their pass. This posed a problem for many, especially those who needed to travel on buses operated by different corporations.
For instance, a person with a BMTC pass would have to pay to travel on KSRTC buses. However, with the new order, visually impaired individuals can travel for free on buses of all four corporations with a pass from any one corporation.
Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy has instructed the corporations to implement this decision, which is expected to benefit a large number of visually impaired individuals in the state.
There are approximately 20,000 visually impaired individuals in Bengaluru alone, and over one lakh across the state. The government’s decision to provide free passes to all visually impaired individuals and allow them to travel on all four corporations’ buses is expected to bring significant relief to them.
