Women in Chhapra, around 70km northwest of Patna, are going to have a field day this Raksha Bandhan with the district administration deciding on special steps to be taken to make the day memorable for them.

The steps include a free bus ride and free entry to all three movie theatres in the town for the matinee show on Saturday. Two buses with a board on them saying - Rakhi Special - would do the rounds so that women can reach their brothers free of cost.

The free movie show for women and the free bus service has come voluntarily from the owners of these services. It all happened after a meeting with Saran district magistrate Dipak Anand, who convinced the service providers to deliver their services gratis so that the day remains memorable for the sisters.

"I had convened a meeting with theatre and bus owners and they readily agreed to provide free service for a day ," Dipak said.

The service providers are not complaining even though this gesture is bound to deny them the income they would have made otherwise.

A senior employee of a theatre in town said a sale of tickets for a show fetches them Rs 20,000-25,000 in total - the amount they are roughly going to forgo for Saturday's matinee show. As for the bus service, a local transport provider said something in the range of Rs 5,000 to 10,000 would have to be spent on fuel to provide the service for a day.

Shilpi Talkies and Pankaj Palace would screen Janaam and Raja Babu, respectively- both Bhojpuri movies, while Jyoti would screen Phantom, the Saif-Katrina starrer.

Women in the town appeared more than happy over the initiative.

"I would like to thank the district administration for this treat and I hope it would not be a one-time affair," said Nidhi Srivastava, who works with a private firm.

Baby Kumar, a college student, however, had some reservations.

"Rakhi is a festival for brothers and sisters. A free movie show with our brothers would have added to our joy," she said.

Interestingly, most of the men were not complaining about the administration's exclusive gift to their sisters.

" The administration should have made the day memorable for both brothers as well as sisters. But I am not complaining as it has made my sister happy," said Kunal Kumar, an engineer .

The manager of Jyoti cinema, Ashok Singh, said the money earned by cinema owners for one show was about Rs 22,000 but they agreed to let the women come for a free show because it would make them happy. "It would burn a hole in our pockets but it is always nice to make someone happy," he said.

Jitendra Kumar, who runs a shop in the town, said: "Everyone wants to see their sister happy on Rakhi. Why should we complain with the administration's move?"