I-Day gift: Free bus service for govt school girl students in Punjab

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Amritsar, August 8

The Education Department is launching an exclusive pilot project for providing school bus service at an estimated cost of Rs 21 crore for the students of government schools in Punjab. The announcement was made recently by Education Minister Harjot Bains and it was initially planned as free bus service for the girl students studying in government schools.

The project will be launched on August 15. According to education department sources, these buses will be enabled with GPS so that the parents can keep a check on the movement of the bus to ensure the safety and security of girls studying in these schools. Giving details, Balraj Dhillon, Deputy DEO, Amritsar, said that initially the service will only be provided to students of Schools of Eminence (SoE).

“In its initial phase, the bus service will be provided free of cost to the students of Schools of Eminence, to ease their commute since many of the students enrolled in SOEs belong to rural areas in the border belt. Later, the service will also be offered to other students but at nominal charges. The funds for launch of the service are yet to be released and only after it is done can we evaluate how the project details will work out,” he said. Amritsar district currently has 200 students enrolled in four Schools of Eminence at Chehrhrta, Town Hall, Mall Road and Jandiala Guru. SOE Cherherta will be the first School of Eminence to commence the free shuttle service.

While the initiative seems to be a welcome step to ease the transport problems for government school students, its limited scope might raise questions. There are several students from nearby villages in Attari, Mehta, Baba Bakala and other rural blocks commuting to government smart schools in urban centres due to better infrastructure. They have to use the local public transport to travel a distance of more than 20-30 km daily. By not keeping the free school bus service open to all, the students of non-SOEs will be deprived of its benefits. On the other hand, it will also benefit the girl students travelling to schools from long distances and help check the drop-out rate among girl students.