Dearth of bus drivers may affect school kids

Updated on: Thursday, June 16, 2011

With schools across the state reopening today, bus operators are a worried lot. There are not enough drivers to ply the vehicles. As per the government’s rules, a school bus driver must wear a badge that can be acquired only by those who are domiciled in Maharashtra. The problem is that not enough of such people seem to be taking up bus driving as a profession. While a lot of people from outside the state are willing to become bus drivers, the domicile requirement is hindering them.

“Most domiciled young drivers are now looking at job opportunities in call centres and with private cab operators. We end up hiring retired BEST drivers on daily wage. Where do we find drivers?” said Anil Garg, president, School Bus Owners’ Association (SBOA). He said even BEST is facing a dearth of drivers. “The problem also lies in that we cannot pay them as much as cab operators. The younger generation is obviously attracted to bigger pay packets.”

Bus drivers used to be hired from many southern states and also Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, but this has changed now. “The southern states are prospering and have a lot of job opportunities. Nobody wants to come to Mumbai from there to become a driver. The ones who are interested cannot get hired because of the domicile barrier,” said Santosh Shetty, a bus operator from Navi Mumbai.

Some bus operators said a few of their drivers quit recently because of the newly introduced bus safety norms. “Now, there are so many precautions and rules that most drivers are finding them stifling. The profession looks futile to them and they are looking for greener pastures,” said an operator.

School defers KG, standard I classes

Classes for kindergarten and std I students of the RN Podar High School, Santacruz, will start a bit late this academic year. “(The reason is that) we have just introduced new buses for our students, but the contract has not yet been finalised. We didn’t want our kids to travel without buses, so we have postponed their classes,” said Swati Popat Vats, director, Podar Jumbo Kids, the kindergarten section.

Dearth of bus drivers may affect school kids

More Education news