Panaji, Feb 23 (IANS): A Congress-aligned students union asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to permit 50 percent concession for students commuting by public transport country-wide. Such a concession exists for students in Goa.

"All students across India should uniformly be able to utilise the 'half-ticket' policy for students which has been in place in Goa for decades now," Hasiba Amin, president of the National Students Union of India (NSUI), said at a press conference Thursday.

Students in Goa pay 50 percent bus fares in buses operated by government-owned corporations as well as private buses. The 'half-ticket' policy came into effect in 1978, following a string of agitations across the state.

Head of the state Congress IT cell Durgadas Kamat said that the prime minister's office was being petitioned, ahead of the budget session, so that necessary time could be given to the union ministries to factor in the 50 percent student concession under the respective budget heads.

"All the hundreds of thousands of students should be able to avail benefit of this scheme, especially at a time when inflation has hit families hard," Kamat said.