MSRTC starts giving subsidised travel passes directly to students

All students from classes 1 to 12 can get free passes under the ‘Punyashlok Ahilyabai Holkar’ scheme to help them continue their education without any hassles

The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has started giving subsidised travel passes directly to schools and colleges, sidestepping the need for students to visit depots or pass centres and saving their time. The move will benefit lakhs of school and college students across the state.

With the academic year starting June 16, the ‘ST pass directly to your school’ initiative has been implemented across the state. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

With the academic year starting June 16, the ‘ST pass directly to your school’ initiative has been implemented across the state. With students receiving their passes directly at schools and colleges, not only will the process of getting passes become easier and more convenient, the students’ valuable study time will be saved.

Announcing the new system, state transport minister Pratap Sarnaik said, “The MSRTC staff will now go to schools and colleges to distribute the travel passes. They will use the students’ lists provided by the schools and colleges. Earlier, students had to go in groups to specific centres and wait in long queues which affected their studies as well.”

“This new plan will ensure that students do not miss their classes just to get their bus passes,” Sarnaik said while launching the ‘ST pass directly to your school’ campaign.

Under this scheme, students travelling to and from their homes and schools/colleges will still get a 66.66% discount on bus fares. They will only need to pay the remaining 33.33% to get a monthly pass. All students from classes 1 to 12 can get free passes under the ‘Punyashlok Ahilyabai Holkar’ scheme to help them continue their education without any hassles.

State divisional controller Arun Siya said, “All ST depot managers across the city have been instructed to coordinate with local schools and colleges and send letters to principals and headmasters. These letters include students’ lists. Based on these lists, the travel passes will be distributed directly.”

“We have distributed bus passes today as per the guidelines announced by the minister. Every depot manager’s team went to schools and distributed passes at the Bhor and Shirur depots. In Pune district, this initiative has started on May 16,” Siya said.

Student Aditya Patil said, “This will help me save money. Earlier, I had to spend around ₹1,500 every month on my monthly bus pass. Now, I can save a little money. Also, I had to go to the depot every month to renew the pass, which took a lot of time. Now that it will be done at school, it’s much easier. This is a very good step.”