Demand for MSRTC buses increases due to schemes for senior citizens & women
As per data shared by the MSRTC Pune division, 13 crore citizens from the Pune division alone travelled by ST buses in the last two-and-a-half years with the MSRTC earning an income of ₹938 crore
The Maharashtra State Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has got a good response to the ‘Amrut Jyeshtha Nagarik Yojana’ and ‘Mahila Samman Yojana’ introduced by the state government for senior citizen- and women- passengers of the transport body, respectively. According to MSRTC statistics, the demand for MSRTC buses has risen with the number of beneficiaries of these schemes increasing day by day.
As per data shared by the MSRTC Pune division, 13 crore citizens from the Pune division alone travelled by ST buses in the last two-and-a-half years with the MSRTC earning an income of ₹938 crore. Out of ₹938 crore, ₹270 crore was given as discount to senior citizens above 75 years of age and women. Whereas in the seven months from April to October this year, the MSRTC earned an income of ₹348 crore, ₹121 crore out of which was given as discount to senior citizens and women. With five months left for this financial year to end, the MSRTC is hopeful of a significant increase in income. In 2023-24, the MSRTC earned an income of ₹427 crore, ₹71 crore out of which was given as concession. In 2022-23, the MSRTC earned an income of ₹162 crore, ₹13 crore and 97 lakh out of which was given as concession. As such, these schemes are adding to the income of the MSRTC Pune division.
The state government started the ‘Amrit Jyeshtha Nagarik Yojana’ for senior citizens above 75 years of age on August 26, 2022; and the ‘Mahila Samman Yojana’ for women on March 17, 2023. There are 14 ST depots under the MSRTC Pune division. Out of these, a large number of STs travel from the Shivajinagar and Swargate ST depots to other districts like Mumbai, Nagpur, Thane, Akola, Nashik, Solapur, Kolhapur, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg.
A M Sheikh, assistant traffic superintendent of the MSRTC Pune division, said, “The corporation ran 329 ST buses on roads in 2022-23 with 2.12 crore passengers travelling by these buses. Only the ‘Amrut Jyeshtha Nagarik Yojana’ was running at this time. During this period, there was an atmosphere of fear among passengers due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Also, ST employees went on strike for two-and-a-half months which affected the revenue. In the beginning of 2023-24, 632 trips were made with the addition of the ‘Mahila Samman Yojana’ while in the current year, 329 ST bus schedules have been released from 14 different depots in seven months.”