Random hike in school van/bus fare peeves many

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, May 22: A large number of parents have been facing additional financial burden as van drivers and bus operators have been charging monthly fares (for transporting students) at their whim without intervention from any authority.
Most mission/private schools of Imphal and greater Imphal areas charge monthly fee ranging from Rs 1500 to 4000.
Monthly van/bus fare for students reading at Little Flower School, Airport Road; Tiny Tots’ Unique School, Dewlahland; Nirmalabas High School which has its campuses at MG Avenue and Luwangshangbam; Heritage Convent School, Naoremthong and RK Sanatombi Devi Vidyalaya, Pangei is between Rs 2500 and Rs 3000.
Talking to The Sangai Express, some parents of students reading at mission/private schools located at Imphal and greater Imphal areas confided that they have been facing a huge financial burden as the transport service providers (bus and vans) hike their monthly fares as and when it suits them.
They asserted that the situation demands immediate intervention of the Government.
The authority concerned needs to fix the transportation charge of school students at reasonable rates, they said.
One Kh Manimohan of Pourabi, Imphal East opined that the recent steep hike of  van/bus bares in the name of the rise in fuel prices is unreasonable.
Asserting that the ‘unreasonable’ manifold hike in van/bus drivers has become a serious financial burden to many parents, he expressed keen desire for not only Transport Department but also student bodies and other pressure groups to look into the matter and do the needful.
“Daily wages or monthly remunerations of many parents like me who are working in private sector have not been hiked by a bit. As such, the steep rise in the transportation charge of students has become a source of misery to all of us”, Manimohan said.
One mother of a student said that the van which transports her son from their home at Keishampat to Blossom School, Changangei charges Rs 2800 per month. “Such exorbitant transport charge has become a huge burden to people like me who survive on limited income. The situation is so bad that we may not be able to send our children to schools”, she said.
Apart from the rise in fuel prices, the recent Government order which re-scheduled schools hours from 8 am is another factor for the manifold hike in van/bus drivers.
Earlier, vans used to make two/three trips but they could not do so after the Government came out with the new regulation for commencement of classes from 8 am.
This affected the monthly income of van drivers. Now they have hiked the transport fares manifold to make up for the reduced number of trips, the woman said, on condition of anonymity.
It is a serious challenge to many parents and their children, she added.
Meanwhile, many quarters have started questioning the silence of the State Government and the Transport Department even as school transport operators and other transport operators have doubled or tripled the normal transport fares.