A woman travelling in a Palle Velugu bus in Nizamabad district was issued the bus ticket despite the Mahalakshmi scheme launched by the State government on December 9 (Saturday), which ensures free bus travel for women in the State in City Ordinary, Express, Metro Express, and Palle Velugu buses.
A video of the bus conductor arguing with the passenger for issuing the ticket was shared on ‘X’ by a person, who claims to be the worker of the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) minority wing in Nirmal. It was widely shared by others. The bus belonged to Bodhan depot, and it was unclear whether tickets were issued to all the women or just the particular woman seen in the video.
As the video went viral, TSRTC Managing Director V. C. Sajjanar posted on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) that an enquiry had been ordered on the incident and said conductor and departmental action would be taken against him after the investigation. Officials later clarified the issue was not merely about issuing the ticket but held some other motives and the person sharing the video was known to ‘create trouble’.
The Mahalakshmi scheme was one of the six guarantees given by the Congress government during the elections. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and other Ministers launched the scheme in the Assembly premises on Saturday and called it a gift from senior party leader Sonia Gandhi to the women of Telangana.
