The Tamil Nadu government has stopped collecting caste details of women who avail themselves of free bus travel in urban areas.
The decision follows AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami’s criticism that information on 15 parameters, such as name, age, mobile number and caste, was being collected from women passengers covered under the free bus travel scheme.
The exercise is part of a random sample survey being undertaken through bus conductors to develop a database on women passenger-beneficiaries.
The scheme is benefiting nearly 50.3 lakh women and the government has set apart ₹2,800 crore for 2023-24 towards reimbursement of the loss due to free travel.
A senior official said the Transport Department did not have any data on the profile of the beneficiaries; hence, the survey was being carried out.
There was a plan for the government, possibly through the Special Programme Implementation Department, to gather feedback directly from the beneficiaries on the impact of the scheme.
