Kerala’s new chief minister, V.D. Satheesan, cleared two headline schemes in his cabinet’s first sitting on 18 May 2026: free rides on state-run KSRTC buses for all women and the creation of a dedicated department for senior citizens, according to livemint.com.
The decisions were taken at the state secretariat within hours of Satheesan’s swearing-in. The free-travel scheme will reimburse KSRTC on a per-passenger basis through a direct-benefit transfer model already piloted in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, officials told livemint.com. The department for the elderly, described as “first of its kind” by the chief minister’s office, will subsume existing geriatric health and welfare programmes and report directly to the chief secretary.
Both moves fulfil promises made in the Congress-led United Democratic Front’s 2026 manifesto and arrive weeks after Delhi’s AAP government expanded its own free-bus programme for women. Analysts tracking state finances estimate the annual KSRTC subsidy at ₹1,200 crore, roughly 0.4 % of Kerala’s budget, according to livemint.com. The senior-citizen department is expected to unlock additional central funds under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, Act, 2007, a route Maharashtra tapped last year to raise ₹300 crore.
Implementation rules for the travel scheme will be notified by 1 July, with smart-card enrolment beginning in district collectorate camps, the transport minister told livemint.com. The geriatric department’s structure and staffing blueprint are due before the assembly’s monsoon session in August, setting the stage for the first budgetary outlay in October.