The decision was taken following grievances of financial exploitation, allegations of collecting fee for an entire year for a 10-month service period and similar complaints from parents and other stakeholders
Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik chairs meeting with officials on Monday. PIc/X
Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik on Monday said that a school bus policy and related regulations will be formulated for the upcoming academic year across the state.
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The decision was taken following grievances of financial exploitation, allegations of collecting fee for an entire year for a 10-month service period and similar complaints from parents and other stakeholders.
The Maharashtra Minister stated that the transport department has constituted a single-member committee under the chairmanship of retired transport officer Jitendra Patil to formulate the policy. The committee has been instructed to submit a report within a month.
“Thousands of school buses transporting students across the state are being run by private entities. The transport department has received complaints that many operators are financially exploiting parents through these school bus services. Accordingly, a meeting was held today at the transport department under the chairmanship of Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik, during which a one-member committee was appointed to establish new regulations for school buses,” a senior transport department official said.
Speaking about the issue, Minister Sarnaik stated, “The transport department has been receiving many complaints from parents, particularly regarding school buses ferrying students for 10 months of the academic year but collecting fees for an entire year at once. This is unreasonable. Also, as the school and bus fees are collected from parents at the same time, a huge financial burden falls on them. Many parents said this is very unfair. They have suggested that school bus operators should accept the student transport fees monthly instead of collecting them as a lump sum."
The minister also pointed out several accidents and mishaps related to school buses ferrying students. He cited instances in Panvel and Badlapur where the safety of students was put at risk and said that every school bus must have panic buttons, fire sprinklers, GPS tracking systems, CCTV cameras, etc. Also, the institutions or school bus operators who collect student transportation fees from parents must have unified control of the CCTV cameras on the buses so that they can be tracked and monitored.
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