The acquisition of buses and other vehicles by the State Government for election duties is causing inconvenience to the general public as these acquired vehicles were involved in public transport and transporting school students. The transport department has acquired about nine hundred vehicles in the district for election related assignments.
As the buses and taxis which usually ply on local routes to ferry the passengers were acquired for the elections the commuters faced problems as less number of vehicles were available for them. The parents of the students are also facing problems and many of them are taking their wards to schools as the school buses are enrolled for election duties. Many schools have declared holiday on Tuesday due to non-availability of buses to transport the students. Manoj Kumar a resident of Herbertpur whose mini bus was acquired for election duty said that very little compensation is provided for the election duty and the chances of wear and tear of vehicle are more.
The Regional Transport Officer (RTO) of Dehradun Dinesh Kumar Pathoi told The Pioneer that vehicles are acquired for a period of three to fifteen days. Pathoi was marshalling his team from his camp office which is made inside an air conditioned bus stationed at Parade ground. He said that apart from 900 private vehicles 300 government vehicles also are engaged in poll duties.