PACKED: A file picture of an autorickshaw carrying more than the permitted number of schoolchildren. — Photo: K.V. Srinivasan

Bangalore: The State Government is expected to follow the rules set by the Governments of Maharashtra and New Delhi in directing schools to urge students to prefer buses to come to school rather than private transport, particularly mini-vans and autorickshaws, which have proved to be risky.

Sources told The Hindu here on Sunday that the directions of the Government in this matter were expected after discussions with school managements.

It would be impressed upon the managements to call for meetings with parents and motivate them to prefer buses to ramshackle vans and autorickshaws to take their children to school.

It is common knowledge that autorickshaws and vans carry many more children than they are authorised to. Following the overload or rash and negligent driving, some of them have even overturned.

There was also the risk of children being dropped away from schools or not being picked up after school hours.

Unlike in Mumbai and New Delhi where buses are preferred to ferry children to schools, private vehicles are preferred in Bangalore. In Bangalore, most of the arterial roads are one-ways. Added to this, the working hours of most schools coincide with office timings resulting in chaos on city roads.

Minister for Transport N. Cheluvarayaswamy and Minister for Primary and Secondary Education Basavaraj Horatti said here that while the Government was of the view that ferrying children to schools by buses should be made compulsory, there could not be a Government Order on the same (to make it mandatory) since it would be difficult to enforce.

Meeting

The Government would call for a meeting of the associations of school managements to begin with and thereafter take the required steps. It was for the school managements and parents to play a more important role in ensuring safety of children during their transit to schools and back.

Mr. Cheluvarayaswamy and the Chief Traffic Manager of the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), Dastagir Shariff, said 49 schools had now engaged 228 buses of the BMTC to ferry students.

If needed, the Government was ready to provide another 750 buses at low rates if the schools and colleges came forward to use them. "Gone are the days when BMTC refused to provide buses for educational institutions owing to paucity of vehicles. Things have changed for the better and it is for the institutions to make use of it."

The meeting between the representatives of the State Government and the association of school managements on the matter pertaining to transportation is expected in another few days.

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