Tribal association wants free bus travel scheme for women in buses in hill areas

Tamil Nadu Tribal Peoples Association urges State govt. to extend free bus travel scheme for women in mofussil buses in hill areas. Women from economically weaker section denied travel due to lack of town buses. Association urges govt. to extend scheme to all women in hill areas. #TamilNadu #TribalPeoplesAssociation #FreeBusTravel #Women #MofussilBuses #HillAreas #EconomicallyWeakerSection

The Tamil Nadu Tribal Peoples Association has urged the State government to extend the free bus travel scheme for women in mofussil buses in hill areas as town buses are not operated in the hills. 

The association’s Talavadi Union conference was conducted at Hasanur here on Sunday, July 16, 2023. Association’s secretary P.L. Jeevabarathi, legal consultant S. Seyarasu, Communist Party of India’s district secretary S. Mohan Kumar and other office bearers were present and two resolutions were passed. 

The resolution said that the free bus travel scheme for women in town buses, which was introduced by the State government two years ago, is benefiting them in large numbers. Working women are getting benefited by the scheme improving them economically, the resolution said.

But, women below poverty line, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes live in large numbers in the hill areas like Talavadi, Kadambur and Bargur, in the district and in the absence of town buses, they were denied opportunity to travel free of cost. 

Women travel to work place for carrying out works under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), to banks for withdrawing wages, to government offices for availing certificates and to hospitals. “But, town buses are not operated in hill areas and they have to depend on mofussil buses for their travel,” the resolution said. 

The resolution said that when women in plains enjoy free bus travel, women in hill areas, who are mostly from the economically weaker section of the society, were denied travel. The resolution urged the State government to extend the scheme to all the women in hill areas.