KSRTC demanding huge amount for school services

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The school authorities that approached KSRTC for special bond (bus on demand) services received a shock upon learning about the amount demanded by KSRTC. KSRTC has demanded Rs 6000 per day for one bus to transport children who are living more than 10 km away from school. If the students are staying within a 10 km radius, the school authorities should pay Rs 5400 per month. Apart from this, KSRTC has also demanded one month's fare in advance. If there are 24 working days in a month, then the school authorities will have to pay Rs 1,44,000 and Rs 1,29,600 per month in advance.

A student who travels 5 km to school has to pay Rs 108 per day. This means that the student has to pay Rs 2,592 per month. On the other hand, a student who travels 10 km to school has to pay Rs 120 per day- Rs 2,880 per month. The average fare charged by aided schools on their buses at the end was Rs.500 for 5 km and Rs.750-1000 for 10 km.

KSRTC had initially planned to demand three months' fare in advance. However, it later decided to demand one month's fare in advance. About 600 buses are ready for school service. There will be a driver and a conductor on the bus. KSRTC has explained that the rate was determined by calculating the fuel charge and the salary of the employees.

Double standard of government
As per the guidelines issued by the state government, only one student should be allowed per seat. However, every seat will be filled in the KSRTC buses. As a result, one bus will have up to 50 students. Although 1250 schools had approached KSRTC for bond service, many of these schools backed down after learning about the huge amount demanded by KSRTC. Many schools are reluctant to operate school buses as operating the buses with just 50 percent students can be a huge financial liability. With this, a large number of children are likely to suffer. The students will be forced to depend on the occasional service bus. KSRTC also informed that it will not operate students only buses.