The Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) on Saturday asked persons with disabilities to collect bus passes from the respective rehabilitation offices. This, despite the Department of Welfare of Persons with Disabilities requesting the Department of Transport to extend the validity of last year’s free passes till December. However, the beneficiaries want the pass validity to be extended till March 2021.
According to the MTC, around 6,000 persons with disabilities, in Chennai, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts, are provided free bus passes every year. These passes are issued in April and are valid till March next year. However, in the wake of COVID-19, the government extended the validity of the passes till August.
Earlier, beneficiaries in Chennai had to get the renewal application form from the rehabilitation office, and after verification, submit them at the MTC headquarters. Only 100 passes are issued a day.
“To ease the process, we have handed over 2,056 passes to the rehabilitation offices. Beneficiaries can collect them after submitting the application form. They need not come to the MTC headquarters. The remaining passes will also be distributed in the coming days,” said an MTC official. These passes will be valid till April. The MTC had issued a statement pertaining to this on Saturday. On Thursday, Johnny Tom Varghese, Director, the Department of Welfare of Persons with Disabilities, had written to the Principal Secretary, Department of Transport, requesting extension of validity of previous year’s passes till December.
“The passes were valid till August. But many beneficiaries could not submit renewal forms due to lack of transport. Now, they will struggle as bus services have resumed. Hence we want the validity to be extended till March 2021 as it was not right to make them run from pillar to post for the passes during the pandemic,” said S. Namburajan, general secretary of Tamil Nadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently Abled and Caregivers. He said the body condemned the MTC’s hasty act, asking persons with disabilities to collect passes from rehabilitation offices. “They could have waited for the response from the Transport Secretary,” said Mr. Namburajan.