Hyderabad Survey: Mahalakshmi free bus service helping women save, 15 % access public healthcare

Hyderabad: The Mahalakshmi scheme which makes bus travel free for women in Telangana has not only helped more women save money by opting for public transport but also increased the influx of women seeking free healthcare at government hospitals, as per a survey on the impact of the Congress government’s scheme so far.

According to the survey, done by an NGO called Helping Hand Foundation, there has been a 31 per cent increase in women travelling in buses after the scheme was introduced. Similarly, outpatient footfall in government hospitals, area hospitals, and primary health centres (PHCs) increased between 10 per cent to 15 per cent after the scheme was introduced.

The volunteers of HHF surveyed over the last two weeks across multiple government health facilities mostly south of the city, i.e. the Old City.

Pre and post-Mahalakshmi scheme

Out of the sample surveyed 52 per cent of women, mostly from the Old City said that they used buses to travel even before the scheme was launched.

After the Mahalakshmi free bus service was introduced by the new Congress government, bus travel increased from 52 per cent to 81 per cent (in the sample surveyed), i.e. an increase of 31 per cent.

Collating the data regarding bus passengers and the influx of patients showed that out of the 31 per cent of more women using buses, nearly half or 15 per cent of them are now using the free bus service to access free public health facilities.

Data from hospitals

A breakdown of the data from the hospitals showed that 71 per cent of women travelled for OPD consultation, 18 per cent for antenatal care and 11 per cent for other reasons. As much as 70 per cent of travellers used the free bus service two ways while visiting hospitals and 30 per cent used it only one way.

Around 33 per cent of women travelled from long distances i.e. more than 25 km to access government healthcare. This indicated an uptick in the number of people travelling to Hyderabad from surrounding districts.

All the respondents said that the key motivation to utilise the free bus service was to get free medicines, antenatal care, and lab tests in public health facilities.

Travel expenses diverted to school fees

As many as 35 per cent of the women surveyed said that they are now saving above Rs 1,000 per visit, availing the twin benefits of free transportation and free health care.

As many as 52 per cent said they save between Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 per visit. When asked about how they will utilise the savings, 60 per cent of women said they will pay the school fees of their children, 28 per cent said it will improve their food security and the rest said it will help them in other ways.

The twin benefits of savings from free transport and health care can improve other social indices of the marginalised women and their families, said the report.

The report also included some of the issues women are facing during bus travel such as extended waiting periods at certain bus stops and overcrowding which is causing inconvenience for senior citizens.

As many as 3,530 women at random were interviewed for the survey in the last 15 days.

The survey covered hospitals such as Osmania General Hospital, Gandhi General Hospital, Modern Govt. Maternity Hospital, Govt. ENT Hospital, Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences, District Hospital, King Koti, Area Hospital Malakpet, Community Health Centre, Barkas CHC, Primary Health Centre, Jangamet and Primary Health Centre in Balapur.