Jayalalithaa takes the AAP route, launches 2 schemes for 'common man'

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief minister J. Jayal­alithaa on Monday introduced 333 new buses in the various transport corporations as part of continuous process of expanding the state’s fleet of buses.

The chief minister handed over keys of the new buses to seven bus drivers at her camp office in Kodanad, a release said.

“Besides introducing new buses, the state government has also introduced 81 renovated buses into the fleet. These buses have been introduced to enable common public access to remote locations in various parts of the state,” a release said.

The chief minister also handed out pensions to 5,151 persons who have retired from service at various transport corporations including leave encashment amounts at a cost of Rs 154.26 crore to the state exchequer.

The state government had earlier launched the Small Bus project in Chennai to help public avoid auto rickshaws and other private vehicles to reach close to their homes.

The Small Buses ply in various residential neighbourhoods and have been a big hit among public. “So far we have launched 50 Small Buses in and around the city and the response has overwhelming so far,” a senior transport official said.

Senior transport officials said that the various state transport organisations that were suffering huge losses are now seeing profits. “As a most recent example, over the last 15 days alone, we have seen an increase in revenue by Rs 15 crores,” said a senior transport official. “This is an indicator of the surge in the transport department’s income.”

Next: CFL to light up poor homes

CFL to light up poor homes

Chief minister J. Jayalalithaa on Monday launched the first phase of providing free Com­pact Flourescent Light (CFL) bulbs to the poor in the state as part of an energy-saving initiative of the state government. Over 14 lakh hut dwellers will be benefitting from the bulbs that are expected to save aro­und 40MW of power.

The ch­ief minister also launched various projects worth Rs 500 crores un­d­er the Energy department fr­om­ her camp office at Kodanadu.

“The chief minister handed out one nine-watt bulbs to seven persons to mark the launch of the project. The scheme of providing free CFL bulbs was laun­ched with the objective of achieving energy efficiency,” a release said.

Sev­eral sub-stations across the st­ate in the capacity of 230 kv, 110 kv and 33 kv, in different parts of the state were also ina­ugu­rated at an overall cost of Rs 509.88 crore through video co­n­­fe­rencing, the release added.