Tamil Nadu government on Monday launched the free bus pass scheme for school and college students for the year 2016-17, with Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa giving away smart cards to five beneficiaries.

The government scheme, aimed at benefiting students from poor backgrounds, covered 28.05 lakh students in 2015-16, an official release said.

This year, 31.11 lakh students will be provided free smart card bus passes at an estimated Rs 504.31 crore, it said.

To mark the launch, Jayalalithaa gave away smart cards to five students at the Secretariat here, it added.

Meanwhile, the CM launched a pension scheme for beneficiaries of her RK Nagar constituency and gave away pension orders to five persons.

A total of 1248 beneficiaries will receive a monthly pension of Rs 1000 starting this August, the release said.