Hyderabad: Transport and Backward Classes Welfare Minister, Ponnam Prabhakar, on Wednesday, said that 85 crore free travel tickets have been issued to women on RTC buses over 265 days, amounting to a subsidy of Rs 2,500 crore.
He said while inaugurating a 300 MTS warehouse of the PACS in Vemulawada along with Government Whip Adi Srinivas and National Federation of State Cooperative Banks Limited Chairman, Konduri Ravinder Rao on Wednesday. They also launched the PACS online services digital seva common service centre, the Karimnagar District Cooperative Bank Limited Vemulawada branch, and an ATM centre.
Ponnam Prabhakar said the Mahalakshmi scheme in Telangana offers free travel on state-run non-AC buses to women and transgender people of all ages who are domiciled in the state. The scheme imposes no limits on the number of trips or the distance traveled. Citing official data, he mentioned that women have significantly benefited from the scheme since its launch on December 9, 2022. The Mahalakshmi scheme is part of a set of six schemes guaranteed by the new government to promote women’s empowerment.
Minister Prabhakar also discussed the Congress government’s historic crop loan waivers, which have been implemented in three phases: Rs 1 lakh in the first phase, Rs 1.50 lakh in the second phase, and Rs 2 lakh in the third phase. He noted that this initiative is unprecedented in the country. However, he clarified that those who took loans before December 12, 2008, and after December 9, 2023, were not eligible for the waiver.
Starting September 17, as part of the ‘Praja Palana’ program, applications will be invited for the implementation of six guarantees, including new ration cards and Indiramma Houses. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has allocated Rs 31,000 crore for the loan waiver scheme.
The event was attended by Vemulawada Municipal Chairperson Madhavi, Vice-Chairman B Mahesh, Vemulawada ASP Seshadrini Reddy, Vemulawada Urban Tahsildar Mahesh, Vemulawada PACS Chairman Tirupati Reddy, and others.
