India, July 5 -- dheeraj.bengrut@htlive.com

In a major relief, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has distributed ST (state transport) bus passes directly at schools and colleges with as many as 521,354 students availing them in just 15 days from June 16 to June 30.

State transport minister and MSRTC chairman Pratap Sarnaik said, "The first session of the new academic year began on June 16, and to support students commuting from their homes to educational institutions, the government has offered a 66.66% concession on ST bus passes. This means students need to pay only 33.33% of the total fare to obtain a monthly travel pass."

Under this initiative, MSRTC staff visited the schools to personally distribute the pass...