Parents are bearing the brunt of the drive initiated by the State Transport Department against the vehicles ferrying the school children following which the operators of taxis, vans and buses have hiked the transportation charges involving the students.
On the orders of the Uttarakhand High Court ( HC) that stated that the vehicles which meet the standards of safety alone should be allowed to transport the school children, the transport department initiated a drive against the vehicles engaged in transporting the students. Rattled over the department’s action, the auto-rickshaw operators went on a strike on Monday and Tuesday while the van operators kept their vehicles off the road on Wednesday. The strike caused problems to the students and the parents because of the acute shortage of the vehicles plying on the roads.
Meanwhile, the agitating auto-rickshaw and van operators reached an understanding with the transport department under which an agreement on limiting the number of seats in these vehicles was reached. According to the understanding, a three-wheeled auto-rickshaw should not ferry more than five children while the four-wheeled auto-rickshaws can transport six children at a time. Similarly, a van operator should not take more than 11 children in them. A rider, however, was added to it that the prescribed sitting capacity would be applicable only on the children below the age of 12 years. This condition has, however, created a piquant situation as the auto and the van operators are refusing to transport children aged more than 12 years.
Following the imposition of the restrictions, the auto and van operators hiked their transportation charges by 30 to 40 percent. “Earlier I was charging Rs 1500 to ferry a kid to a school located within five kms. Now with the restrictions imposed, I am forced to charge to Rs 2200 per month,’’ said Vinod Pal, a van operator.
“Every year, the van operators hike their charge, but this year they have hiked the charges mid -session. The drive by the government on ensuring safety of the school children is good, but the fact is that these van and auto operators would not stop taking more children than the prescribed limit in their vehicles like before. However, we have to shell out much more than earlier to ensure that our children reach schools and back,’’ said Shalini Bisht, a resident of Dev lok Colony on Shimla Bye Pass.
Taking up the cudgel on behalf of the inconvenienced parents, the National Association For parents and Student Rights ( NAPSR) has decided to stage protest on the steep hike.
The president of the association Arif Khan said, “ We would meet the regional transport officer on Monday and demand that a kilometre based chart for all schools by all contract carriage vehicles should be fixed and circulated so that the loot in the name of transportation charges is checked.’’