Ensuring a safe commute for your child to school and back may come at a steep cost from the next academic year.
Ensuring a safe commute for your child to school and back may come at a steep cost from the next academic year. For, even before a final decision is taken on changes to the policy, the school bus association has announced a unilateral decision to increase bus fees.
The reason: after repeated strikes and protests against the “impractical” school bus safety norms devised by the transport authorities, the owners have finally begun implementing the norms but, they say, have incurred huge costs in equipping their buses with these stipulated changes.
The fees, which are already close to Rs800, will be hiked by Rs250-Rs300, depending on your area of residence. The hike was announced by Anil Garg, president of the school bus owners association that owns close to 9,500 buses in the city.
“The measures include adding a staircase at four inches from the ground, installing rods below the seat to hold bags, painting the buses yellow, writing the school’s name on the bus in a particular colour,” Garg said.
“These are expensive to implement. We had gone on strike to save parents money. Now, they will have to bear the brunt,” he added.
Garg said they were forced to increase the fees as installing these measures cost them close to Rs85,000 per bus. “We too want children to be safe, but such little things only add to the expenses, not safety,” he said.
Parents associations, however, are threatening to go to court against the hike. Jayant Jain, president of Forum for Fairness in Education which has already filed a PIL against the bus strike, said the forum will take the hike issue to court.
“The bus owners are holding parents ransom. They might have incurred these costs, but they also lend their buses for non-school activities, especially during summer vacations, even though it is against the rules. They generate quite an income from such side businesses. We will ensure that parents have to pay only for 10 months and not 12,” he added.
Meanwhile, parents are worried about how they will afford the hiked fees, and at the same time, they don’t want to compromise on their children’s safety. Santa Cruz resident Hetal Shah said,
“Already we are paying a bomb as school fees. The hike is going to be a big burden. Bus owners are taking advantage of us.”
Another parent, Raju Tirumallee said, “Bus owners are blackmailing parents. We can’t even discontinue the service, as other means of transport, like vans, are unsafe. The government needs to take action against such bus owners.”
Some of the costs incurred
Rs35,000 Emergency door
Rs7,350 Six window bars
Rs5,000 Fire extinguisher
Rs300 First-aid kit
Rs11,000 Staircase
Rs6,000 Rod under the seat to place school bag
Rs9,000 Poles inside the bus
Rs15,000 For painting the bus yellow
Rs3,000 For painting a brown strip
Rs6,500 For a female attendant
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