Smart bus passes for 30Lakh students

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For the first time, 30 lakh students of government schools and colleges across the state will get smart card bus passes soon.

Since the free bus passes do not last till the end of the academic year, the state government has decided to issue smart cards which are waterproof and tear-proof.

Though for the past few years, smart cards were issued in Chennai, students in other districts would be getting it now for the first time.

It would be a herculean task for transport corporations and contractor to distribute the smart cards in a matter of few days.

However, the previous experience in issuing electoral identity cards would come in handy for the supplier to distribute bus passes to several lakh students within the stipulated time, sources told this paper on Tuesday. A 15-day deadline has been set for the supplier to disburse the passes.

“There were complaints from parents and conductors that the passes made of paper cards were getting damaged quickly due to poor handling by the students.

Keeping this in mind, chief minister J. Jayalalithaa had directed to issue tear-proof smart card bus passes to students,” an official opined. The chief minister launched the scheme on Tuesday by giving away smart cards to seven students.

The Institute of Road Transport would identify the supplier every year. “The supplier will employ data entry operators across the state to go to schools to photograph the students and issue the passes in coordination with transport corporations,” sources added.