Karnataka: Free bus passes only for SC/ST students

BENGALURU: While Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy announced that they will take a decision on free bus passes for all students in a week, State Road Transport Undertakings (SRTUs) have started distribution of passes. However, free passes will be issued only to SC/ST students. At present, general students pay 25% of the bus pass fee. Last year, the government offered free bus passes to SC/ST students studying in schools, colleges, and universities. In the 2018-19 budget, then Chief Minister Siddharamaiah announced free bus passes to all students across the state. As many as 19.60 lakh students across the state were expected to benefit from the scheme. While the scheme will cost around Rs 630 crore the finance department is yet to earmark the amount. “General students will have to pay for bus passes as there has been no communication from the finance department so far. We cannot delay distribution of passes since classes have already began. We will refund the amount if the government decides to implement the scheme this year,” said a senior SRTU official. A BMTC press release on Thursday said they will issue student concessional smart cards through respective schools and colleges. Under the new system, students have to inform their schools and colleges about the requirement. The nodal officer of the institution will enter the details of students in the Student Achievement Tracking Software (SATS) software and submit the application online. KSRTC has also issued 46,635 students passes across the state so far. Source: Times Of India