Hyderabad: Two Telangana cabinet ministers traveled in a TGSRTC Palle Velugu bus in Karimnagar district on Wednesday, June 17, interacting with passengers and reaffirming the state government’s commitments on public welfare, education, and transport.
Transport and BC Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar and SC, ST, Minority and Disabled Persons Welfare Minister Adluri Laxman Kumar boarded the bus at Thimmapur Vaageshwari Engineering College and traveled to the NTR statue in the district headquarters, speaking with commuters along the way about their experience of the free bus service.
Under the Maha Lakshmi scheme, launched in December 2023, TGSRTC Palle Velugu and express buses provide free travel to women, girls and transgender persons across Telangana.
Ponnam Prabhakar said ridership had risen sharply since the scheme’s launch, prompting the government to procure new buses. He said women had not only been given free travel but had also been made owners of RTC buses, and that longstanding worker grievances were being resolved under Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy. He added that trade union elections were underway and that winning representatives would be integrated into the officers’ committee upon their conclusion.
The minister also said pre-primary schools had been started this year and a breakfast milk scheme launched in government schools. He said Telangana was the only state in the country to have both granted women free RTC travel and made them bus owners. He added that the government would consider extending free travel to students presenting NEET hall tickets on the day of the examination, scheduled for the 21st of this month.
Adluri Laxman Kumar, addressing the opposition, said the BRS had failed to govern adequately during its 2014–2023 tenure and accused the previous government of limiting welfare spending to diet charges for hostel students. He said the current administration was providing facilities to 27 lakh students and alleged Rs 1,142 crore in under-procurement in BC and social welfare during the BRS era, with Rs 2,000 crore in corruption.
Responding to BRS leader Harish Rao’s allegations, Adluri Laxman Kumar challenged him to prove the Rs 2,000 crore corruption claim, saying the ministers were ready to resign if he could substantiate it. He accused the BRS of cycling through controversies, from civil supplies to the coal scam and now SC, ST and BC welfare.
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