Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)
Bengaluru, Jun 5: The coalition government, through an order issued on Monday, June 4, withdrew the free pass facility extended in government buses by Siddaramaiah-led Congress government. Henceforth, the students are required to buy passes at concessional rates.
It is said that this measure is undertaken as the earlier scheme used to place a heavy burden on the state's excheqeur. Passes for students between first and seventh standards would cost Rs 150, Rs 750 for high school students, Rs 550 for girl students, Rs 1,050 for PU to postgraduate students, and Rs 1,350 for evening college and PhD students.
The finance department has concluded that the continuing free pass facility results in financial burden of about Rs 1,500 crore for the government which is too much to bear, considering that budgetary allocation for the same stands at about Rs 850 crore annually.