The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has floated tender and invited bids for arranging picnics for Stds IV and VII civic school students in January, handing over safety of more than 18,000 children to private agencies during travel.
As per the decision, the private player with the winning bid will have to organise 10-day picnics at tourist spots as designated by the BMC within Mumbai or near the city.
The tender lays down conditions, saying the agency concerned will have to organise for transportation in a semi-luxury bus having seating capacity of 50 to 55. The firm will also have to provide food, including breakfast, lunch, tea, snacks and packaged drinking water to students. Its work also includes booking of zoo, parks, educational institutes etc, for the trips.
When asked, Sunil Dhamne, deputy municipal commissioner (education), confirmed the decision. "Earlier, we would arrange picnics at ward-level, issuing circulars. But inviting tender will help us get competitive rates. We are going to consider only those agencies approved by the RTO for bidding," Dhamne added.
When asked about the issue of students' safety, Dhamne said the corporation has taken adequate measures in this regard. As part of the same, a successful bidder will have to provide accidental insurance cover of minimum of Rs1 lakh to each student. "Plus, picnics are planned on a day-to-day basis at locations within Mumbai. So the safety aspect is taken care of," he said.
The civic body will also ask the agency concerned to provide at least one escort per bus armed with a mega phone and full knowledge and information of the route for students' guidance and safety, as well as first aid facility. The picnics have to be organised in a way that there aren't more than 600 students present on a day at a particular spot.
Dhamne, however, refused to share details pertaining to the estimated cost the civic body will incur for this.
But opposition parties in the BMC refused to buy the safety measure claims made by the department. They termed the move as "another window for corruption".
"The corporation should ideally use buses available with BEST or approach the government as it will not strain civic coffers. While the BMC is toying with safety of children by inviting firms, the move also seems to be aimed at benefiting officials and private operators. The tender must be held back," opposition leader Devendra Amberkar insisted.
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