Free travel women in UP govt buses for 3 days on Rakshabandhan

In view of the upcoming Rakshabandhan festival on August 9, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has instructed the Transport Department to make arrangements for free travel of women in UPSRTC buses and urban bus service buses for three days starting from August 8.

The free travel will start from the morning of August 8 till the midnight on August 10. 

Advertisement

During the three-day free travel this time, the Transport Corporation has decided to run all its buses continuously.

The Chief Minister had ordered this free travel for women during a high-level meeting late last evening.  After taking over the reins of the state in 2017, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath started free travel to mothers and sisters in view of the festival of Rakshabandhan, and that arrangement has continued. The Transport Corporation has started its preparations.

Currently, the fleet of UP Transport Corporation includes 13,850 buses, compared to 12,758 in 2022. Last year, Rakshabandhan was celebrated only for one day.  

Transport Corporation GM Operation Anil Kumar said here on Monday that transport buses will run continuously during the three days so that women travellers do not face any problem regarding travel. 

Regarding the continuous running of buses, he said, the drivers and conductors will be given incentives.

”If we look at the number of women traveling on the occasion of Rakshabandhan and the expenses incurred on their travel (excluding the incentives received by the driver and conductor), then in 2024, as many as 19.78 lakh women had traveled for free. In 2024, Rakshabandhan was only for one day, and the Transport Department spent Rs 19.87 crore on it. Similarly, in 2023, when Rakshabandhan was celebrated on two days, 22 lakh women traveled, for which the Transport Corporation spent Rs 27.66 crore.