Nearly 30,000 students in Dharwad and Hubballi wait for delayed free bus passes

Nearly a month after schools reopened, thousands of students in Dharwad, Hubballi, and the wider Kittur Karnataka region are facing severe financial strain or skipping classes entirely due to major delays in the distribution of free state-run bus passes. Long queues have formed at local bus stands as transport authorities struggle to process tens of thousands of applications.

The delay follows an announcement by Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who took office on June 3 and declared that students would travel free of cost on state-run buses. While the announcement was widely welcomed, the state government did not formally approve the scheme until June 12. The online application portal subsequently opened on June 13, triggering a massive flood of applications that has overwhelmed transport staff.

Until the passes are issued, students are required to pay regular bus fares to travel between their villages and schools. For many families, these daily expenses have become unaffordable.

Chandrayya, a local parent who applied for passes for his three children on June 17, shared that he has received no updates from the North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC). With daily travel costs for his children reaching nearly Rs 250, Chandrayya has kept them home from school until the passes are issued.

Sangamesh, a student from Nigadi, said he submitted his application over a week ago but is still waiting. "Every day, hundreds of applications are being accepted, making it difficult for the staff to process them quickly," he said.

Between May 29 and June 25, the NWKRTC received 93,402 applications from districts including Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Belagavi, Uttara Kannada, and Bagalkot. While the corporation has issued 64,681 passes and rejected 4,881, nearly 30,000 applications remain under scrutiny. Officials expect total applicants to increase by nearly one lakh compared to last year's two lakh passes.

To mitigate the impact, students like Shambu, a PU student, have urged the government to allow temporary travel using college identity cards, fee receipts, or last year's passes.

However, NWKRTC Chief Traffic Controller Vivekanand Vishvadnya stated that transport staff lack the authority to permit free travel without explicit government directions. He assured that staff are working continuously to clear the backlog.