Students yet to get free bus passes this academic year in Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI: It's been two months since schools and colleges in Tamil Nadu reopened, in this academic year but students are yet to receive free bus passes to travel on government buses.
Conductors have been told to admit students wearing uniforms and carrying valid ID cards for free, but some force students to buy tickets. Under the scheme launched by J Jayalalithaa in 1996-97, government school and college students are exempted from paying tickets and 50% concession is given for those in private institutions.The state transport department reimburses (Rs 700-Rs 800 crore annually) the concession amount to all eight state transport corporations.
M R Vijayabaskar, transport minister, announced in 2018 that paper bus passes will be replaced with smart cards. After a delay in floating tenders, only paper passes were distributed to most students last year. On May 25, MTC informed conductors to accept last year's pass for this year too. ID cards for first year college students would suffice till August end, the circular said. MTC has now extended the deadline to September 30 thereby indicating that the confusion will continue for another month.
Students from Central Polytechnic College, Taramani said conductors along T70 route (Koyambedu to Thiruvanmiur) frequently refuse to admit passes. Conductors, in response, said they know students who travel regularly along the routes and some misuse this exemption by wearing uniform shirts.