Free travel for students welcomed while funding issues is flagged

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective.

First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming.

Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day.

Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers

Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there

The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features.

At present, nearly 10 lakh students across Karnataka avail concessional bus passes issued by road transport corporations every year. | Photo Credit: K. MURALI KUMAR

The newly appointed Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar’s decision to provide free bus travel to students across the State has been welcomed as a measure that could boost access to education, but transport officials have expressed concerns about its financial impact on the State-run road transport corporations (RTCs), which are already grappling with delayed reimbursements under the Shakti Scheme.

Officials from the four RTCs told The Hindu that while the move would benefit lakhs of students, particularly those from rural and economically weaker backgrounds, its success would depend on timely reimbursement by the government.

At present, nearly 10 lakh students across Karnataka avail concessional bus passes issued by the RTCs every year. Out of this, seven lakh students from general category avail the pass, while three lakh students from SC/ST community avail the student passes which is reimbursed through the Scheduled Castes Sub Plan (SCSP) and Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) programme of the Social Welfare Department. According to the Transport Department officials, these passes generate around ₹70 crore in annual revenue for the corporations.

“Women students are already travelling free under the Shakti Scheme. Male students currently use concessional passes issued by the RTCs. If the government reimburses the revenue loss arising from the new scheme, similar to the Shakti model, there should not be any major issue for the corporations,” a senior RTC official said.

However, the transport corporation sources pointed out that the RTCs are still awaiting substantial dues from the government under the Shakti Scheme, which provides free bus travel to women.

According to official data accessed by The Hindu, the four RTCs spent ₹17,647.50 crore on operating services under the scheme between June 2023 and February 2026. During the sa