A novel scheme to book online state transport (ST) bus tickets, launched by Kolhapur zilla parishad in western Maharashtra has received encouraging response from rural populace.
"Tickets worth over Rs four lakh have been booked since the ST bus ticket booking and reservation facility began in Uttur gram panchayat of Ajara taluka," Kolhapur Zilla parishad CEO Dr Vijay Suryawanshi said.
The IAS official said the idea behind the launch of the scheme, being implemented as part of the state government's 'SanGraM' (Sanganakiya Gramin Maharashtra) initiative, was to enable the village folk to save time and money as they had to travel to the nearby urban centre to book the tickets.
Recently, the SanGraM centres in gram panchayats were declared as Citizen Service Centres in Maharashtra, the bureaucrat said. The centres are expected to provide various services to citizens in rural areas.
Under this initiative, the Kolhapur ZP started ST bus ticket booking and reservation in Uttur gram panchayat three months ago.
"The initiative received huge response from citizens and till date tickets worth Rs four lakh have been sold," he said.
"This is the first such centre in the state. Many more gram panchayats are now ready to provide this service. Soon, railway ticket booking will also be started in 81 gram panchayats in Kolhapur district," Suryawanshi said.
