Joseph Vijay Stops Woman Touching His Feet on Vettri Payanam Bus

Watch the Official Video of the Vettri Payanam bus greeting

Watch the video of Joseph Vijay inside the bus before the formal ticket handover. The clip runs about 70 seconds and opens outside the terminus, where yellow-and-red MTC buses sit nose to nose and a crowd presses the door.

Vijay, in a white shirt, comes down the steps into a ring of officials and cameras. A brass memento is held up beside him. A flower arrangement sits on the next bus. Then the shot cuts inside.

Yellow handrails run the length of the aisle. Women in sarees stand and sit on both sides. Several clap as he walks forward. He brings his palms together and greets them one row at a time. A woman in a light floral top leans in. Another passenger in a red saree reaches toward him. The tone stays warm, not staged. People smile. Phones come up.

The moment that is traveling is the bend. A woman lowers herself to touch his feet. Vijay checks the gesture and asks her not to prostrate. He keeps the greeting at eye level, hands folded, and moves on down the aisle. A related social embed of this video will be inserted here.

Watch the video once for the aisle walk, and again for the stop. The second viewing shows how quickly he redirects the bow into a simple namaste.

TN CM Joseph Vijay greets women inside the bus ahead of launch of expanded Vettri Payanam scheme, asks a woman not to prostrate as she bends to touch his feet. pic.twitter.com/pUttd7I39u

— News Arena India (@NewsArenaIndia) October 2, 2026

What the expanded Vettri Payanam covers

The expanded Vettri Payanam covers 12,692 government buses, about 69 percent of the 18,413 scheduled buses run by seven state transport undertakings. Those buses will run 1,65,312 of 1,94,649 daily single trips, or 85 percent of scheduled operations.

The government expects about 84.32 lakh women to benefit every day, with more than 16 lakh one-way journeys. Transgender commuters are included. SETC buses stay outside the scheme. Annual cost is about Rs 6,000 crore.

Free travel already ran on ordinary city and town buses, and on some hill routes up to 40 km, under the earlier Vidiyal Payanam plan. Friday’s change adds Express, LSS, and Deluxe services in cities and towns, plus longer mofussil and ghat ordinary buses.

Why the Vettri Payanam bus clip is spreading

According to The New Indian Express, Vijay launched the scheme by handing free tickets to women waiting inside buses at Koyambedu. Transport Minister A. Vijay Tamilan Parthiban said the aim is to keep fare from blocking school, work, hospital trips, and daily wages.

The scheme name comes from the ruling Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam and means “victorious journey.” Opposition leaders have called it a rebrand of the earlier free-bus plan. The clip does not argue that point. It shows a chief minister in a crowded aisle, greeting passengers, and refusing a bow at his feet.