The West Bengal government’s scheme offering free travel for women on state-operated buses came into effect across the state on Monday.
Under guidelines issued by the state transport department, women seeking to avail of the benefit must carry any one of the specified identity documents proving their eligibility as residents of West Bengal.
The list of accepted documents includes Aadhaar card, EPIC (voter ID) card, Grameen Rozgar Guarantee Card, Ayushman Bharat Health Card, driving licence, PAN card, passport, pension documents carrying a photograph, service identity cards issued by central or state governments, public sector undertakings and public limited companies, as well as identity cards issued by schools, colleges and universities. Any other identity card issued by the Government of West Bengal bearing a recent photograph will also be accepted.
Women passengers are required to present any one of these documents while travelling to avail of the free-ride facility.
With the scheme becoming operational on Monday morning, bus conductors began issuing “zero-value” tickets to eligible women passengers after verifying the prescribed identification documents.
The facility is available on both short-distance and long-distance state-operated bus services. Transport department officials said conductors had been trained to implement the system and issue the zero-value tickets to eligible beneficiaries.
The current arrangement of verifying identity through the approved documents will continue until the government introduces a dedicated smart card system.
Under the proposed system, women beneficiaries will be issued digital smart cards carrying their photograph, name and a QR code. Applications for the cards will be submitted through the offices of the Block Development Officer (BDO) or Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO).
Until the smart cards are issued, women can continue to avail of the free travel facility by producing any one of the approved identity documents.
(With inputs from IANS)
