School bus owners demand fee-hike

Updated on: Saturday, March 24, 2012

The School Bus Owners' Association's (SBOA) demand for a hike in school bus fees in the coming academic year has generated enormous debate. While school bus operators insist that the costs of implementing the bus safety norms are too much for them to incur, several activists say the demand is unjustified.

Anil Garg, president, SBOA, said, "after the School Bus Safety Policy was introduced in 2011, most bus operators had already started making changes in their respective buses. The expenses have been increasing with every rule that we are being ordered to implement." He added that rules like installation of bag racks beneath seats, vertical poles inside the bus, low footboard and the like, are only adding to 'unnecessary ' expenses. "To make up for the expenses, we have no other option but to ask parents to chip in," added Garg.

On Thursday, SBOA announced that to accommodate the changes as prescribed by the School Bus Safety Policy, bus owners will have to invest almost Rs 85,000 in each bus. Automobile experts as well as RTO officials, however, dismiss the bus operators' claims, calling it "blackmail" . Nitin Dossa of the Western India Automobile Association (WIAA), said "Charging Rs 35,000 for installation of an exit door in one bus is not just hypothetical, it is insane." He added that making the necessary changes should not cost more than Rs 50,000 per bus. "If the operators send an entire batch of buses to the same manufacturer , this cost can be further deducted ," added Dossa.

Garg said, "The hike is only for the time being. Once we get back the money that we have spent, we will roll back the hike." He added that if the technical committee decides to drop some of the proposed changes-the bag rack, extra footboard and vertical poles inside the bus-the hike will be lower. "One of the main reasons why we didn't want the policy to be implemented in its present form was because of all the extra expenses that will have to be incurred," added Garg.

The SBOA also claimed the government was apathetic to their plight. "We have been following up the issue with the transport department for the past few months but nobody is acknowledging our problems. We have sent several letters to officials but nobody has replied to our issues," said Garg. However, transport secretary S K Sharma told TOI that the bus operators have not yet informed the transport department or the government about their plans. "Once we know what they are basing their claims on, we will be in a better position no analyze and figure out if the proposed hike is justified . We will inquire into this immediately ," he said.

School bus owners demand fee-hike

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