For the first time in the city, students of Classes V to X living within the Pune municipal limits will get a free ride to their schools and back home. The students can travel by Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) buses, free of cost, from either July end or the first week of August.

The distribution of forms, necessary for procuring the free passes, will begin on Monday at the 14 ward offices of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). The move will benefit students of government and civic private schools recognised by the state government.

Additional Municipal Commissioner Machhindranath Devnikar said on Friday the scheme will continue throughout this academic year, except on school holidays. The PMC will spend Rs 10 crore on the initiative.

Last month, the PMPML had demanded Rs 45 crore from the PMC to implement the scheme, while the amount allocated in the annual budget was only Rs 9 crore. Civic activists had alleged that the PMPML had given ‘inflated’ projections. However, on Friday Devnikar said, “There are about 2.6 lakh students in Classes V to X. Out of these only 15 to 20 per cent students travel by PMPML buses regularly. So our calculations show that around Rs 10 crore would suffice for the scheme. However, in case of additional burden, we will put up a proposal for additional amount before the civic standing committee.”

“To study the technicalities of the free-pass scheme, a committee comprising civic officials and elected representatives has been appointed. After deliberations on the issue, we have decided to put the plan into implementation from either July 31 or August 3,” Devnikar said.

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