Smart cards to replace Aadhaar cards for free travel to women in Punjab
A top government functionary said tenders to purchase hand-held devices to read smart cards was being floated by the state transport department
Smart cards that are being made under the Mukh Mantri Sehat Yojana, a cashless health insurance, will also enable free travel to women in Punjab on the state transport undertaking buses.
Nearly 3.5 lakh women avail the free facility every day. An average travel of 42 km is being undertaken by beneficiaries daily. Soon, smart cards will replace Aadhaar cards as the identity proof needed to avail the free facility.
A top government functionary said tenders to purchase hand-held devices to read smart cards was being floated by the state Transport Department. Though the populist scheme would continue, it could be tweaked to target the rightful beneficiaries and rationalise the expenditure on the scheme.
Clarifying that all women were entitled to free travel upon showing their identify proof, officials said the Health Department, the main agency involved in preparing the smart cards, was surveying the beneficiaries. The smart cards are expected to be issued in the next two months.
For free travel, funds are released by the Department of Social Security and Women and Child Development on the claim raised by the Transport Department. But, the state transport undertakings — PRTC and Punjab Roadways — have been complaining that the scheme had been bleeding them.
Against the annual allocation of Rs 450 crore, the free facility is costing the state transport undertakings – Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC), Punbus, and Punjab Roadways – nearly Rs 800 crore.
“A move by the Transport Department to prepare smart cards for women availing the facility – to get real-time data of women availing the free bus travel facility – is pending with the state government,” said a senior government functionary.
