Christmas holidays begin a day earlier

The School Bus Owners Association (SBOA) will be submitting a list of rules to transport officials and the state government which they feel are unreasonable and need to be withdrawn.

Anil Garg,president of SBOA,Mumbai,said,“Our strike got a tremendous support from bus operators and owners across the state. However,we have not receive any response from the transport department yet. They expect us to follow these impractical rules. We will give them a week’s time to fulfil our demands,failing which we will go on an indefinite strike from January 2.”

However,officials of the transport department claim the school bus operators did not discuss the issue with them before going on strike. Shailesh Kumar Sharma,transport secretary,said,“Going on a strike is not a solution. By doing so,bus operators have inconvenienced many students. We do not have any problem with their demands,but will not fulfil them at the cost of students’ safety.”

Sharma added,“To my knowledge,they met the transport commissioner on Friday and called for a statewide strike. They could have approached us and met the transport minister to discuss the issue. We are still willing to meet them to resolve the matter. Currently,we are busy with the winter session of the Legislative Assembly,but will call for a meeting with the bus operators and owners by next week.”

Hitting back at the RTO officials and transport department,SBOA asked why no action has been taken against unauthorised private vehicles that operate as school buses. “We have approached the RTO and traffic department several times on this issue. It seems only school bus owners are targeted,while these small vehicle owners ply students without any hassles,” added Garg.

Rohit Bhatt,principal of Childrens’ Academy,Malad,said,“We do not have buses on contract basis,so our school was open on Tuesday. Though we do not support the strike,I feel by shifting the blame of school bus safety on the school management and bus operators,the RTO is shirking its responsibility. They come up with new rules every time there’s an accident. However,when it comes to inspecting the buses,they do it only once a year.”

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