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Once each 3 days, 57-year-old Ambika Puliyedath boards a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) autobus from the Ernakulam Boat Jetty autobus basal to her location successful Chavakkad, Thrissur. She often has to unreserved to the autobus basal successful the greeting aft completing her nighttime displacement astatine the General Hospital, Ernakulam. On these days, she shells retired astir ₹220 connected transport alone. By the extremity of the month, she struggles to marque ends meet.
On Monday (June 15, 2026), astatine 8.30 a.m., she was astatine the autobus basal to instrumentality portion successful the district-level inauguration of the UDF government’s ‘Priyadarshini’ escaped autobus question scheme. A Guruvayur-bound autobus bearing registration fig KL-15-9632 was the centre of attention, arsenic the free-ticket strategy was to beryllium inaugurated aboard it.
“I question from this basal regularly. Having a reliable mode of proscription for which we don’t person to wage is going to marque a immense quality to our monthly budget,” said Ms. Puliyedath. Fifty-five-year-old Bindumol C.D. said the strategy would assistance her prevention astir ₹1,000 each month.
A pistillate conductor hands implicit the archetypal escaped summons to Kochi Mayor V.K. Minimol during the inaugural travel marking the Ernakulam district-level motorboat of the State government’s escaped autobus question strategy for women. | Photo Credit: R.K. Nithin
Hibi Eden, MP, inaugurated the program. Mayor V.K. Minimol and Ernakulam MLA T.J. Vinod spoke.
As it was clip to committee the bus, women, including enactment workers and travellers, swarmed the vehicle. Conductor S. Surya issued the archetypal zero-fare summons to Ms. Minimol. To observe the occasion, the autobus took a abbreviated detour done the metropolis earlier returning to the stand.
Seventy-three-year-old S. Radhakrishnan, who was travelling to Guruvayur aboard the bus, sat bemused amid a radical of excited passengers. “It is simply a bully scheme. It gives women greater state and mobility,” helium said arsenic the autobus pulled into the stand.
The passengers bound for Guruvayur stayed connected board, portion the others disembarked. “It feels similar we went connected a small excursion,” laughed Lulu Nafeesath, a transwoman.
