Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Monday (September 21, 2026) chaired a meeting at the Secretariat to review preparations for the launch of the expansion of the Vetri Payanam (free bus travel for women, previously called Vidiyal Payanam) scheme on Gandhi Jayanthi, on October 2, 2026.

An official release recalled that in a suo motu statement in the Assembly recently, Mr. Vijay had announced the expansion of the free bus travel scheme for women in the State. Under the expanded scheme, women will be allowed to travel free of cost in Express, LSS, Deluxe, Mofussil Ordinary, and Ghat Ordinary buses for distances of up to 40 km.

A total of 12,692 buses have been brought under the scheme, which the government said would benefit 84.32 lakh women.

The release said the work on linking the Electronic Ticket Machines (ETMs) for implementing the scheme had been completed and a trial run would be conducted on September 27.