Now Reading: Women above 60 can travel free on UP buses with Aadhaar or Voter ID
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Women above 60 can travel free on UP buses with Aadhaar or Voter ID
Women aged 60 and above can travel free on ordinary Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) buses from Friday under the 'Lokmata Ahilyabai Matru Shakti Yatra Yojana'. Instead of waiting for…
Women aged 60 and above can travel free on ordinary Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) buses from Friday under the 'Lokmata Ahilyabai Matru Shakti Yatra Yojana'. Instead of waiting for a special smart card, eligible women can simply show their Aadhaar Card or Voter ID to the conductor, who will verify their age from the date of birth and issue a zero-value ticket via an Electronic Ticketing Machine (ETIM). The ticket records the bus number, start point and destination.
The UPSRTC said issuing a zero-value ticket for every free journey is mandatory to maintain a digital record on its MIS/cloud-based server, ensuring transparency and monitoring. The corporation will separately issue smart cards to eligible beneficiaries, but the card is not required immediately. Conductors have been directed to follow the rules, and action will be taken if fare is wrongly collected from an eligible woman. Regional officers and depot in-charges will monitor compliance.
Indian Opinion Analysis
This is the first time the Yogi Adityanath government has allowed Aadhaar or Voter ID as immediate proof for the free bus scheme, removing the earlier barrier of waiting for a smart card. The scheme, named after the 18th-century Maratha queen Ahilyabai Holkar, targets the growing demographic of older women in Uttar Pradesh, the state with India's largest population. The mandatory zero-value ticket creates a digital audit trail, which the government can use to track actual ridership and cost. A key figure to watch is the monthly number of zero-value tickets issued, which will reveal real demand and the scheme's fiscal burden on the state exchequer.
Source: hindustantimes.com
This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
