Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president M.K. Stalin, on Sunday (March 22, 2026), said the ‘Vidiyal Payanam’ initiative that provides free bus travel for women, would further improve in the Dravidian model of governance 2.0.In a social media post, Mr. Stalin said 897.82 crore free bus trips were undertaken on 7,712 buses till March 1 this year. During 2021-22, there were 95.86 crore trips, while during 2022-23, there were 166.53 crore trips. There were 186.35 crore trips during 2023-24 and there were 213.94 crore trips during 2024-25. During 2025-26, there were 235.14 crore trips, Mr. Stalin said.“It not only shows that through their safe and independent travel, women have been able to scale greater heights but also that such trips have been increasing,” Mr. Stalin said. He also underlined that besides women, transpersons and persons with disabilities also benefitted from the Vidiyal Payanam initiative.Published - March 22, 2026 05:13 pm IST