Students heave a sigh of relief as SoE starts bus service

Ludhiana, July 16

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Students of Government Senior Secondary School, Jawahar Nagar Camp, which is also a School of Eminence (SoE), appear relaxed for they no longer have to pedal 8-10 km daily or endure the tantrums of auto-rickshaw drivers, as their school has availed a bus contractor’s services.

Travelling with them will be students from the city’s peripheral localities such as Peepal Wala Chowk, Giaspura and Dhandari, demonstrating how difficult it would have been for students to get to school on time on bicycles or auto-rickshaws before the service began a week ago.

The bus leaves from near the civil hospital at 6 am for Suffian chowk, Cheema chowk, Sherpur chowk, Giaspura and Dhandari Kalan before arriving at the school around 6.50 am, picking at least 35-40 students along the route. The school day runs from 7 am to 12 noon.

Payal Maurya, a student, said, “We’ve been travelling in this bus for a week now. I used to commute to school on a bicycle from near Giaspura, which is around 10 km either way. Now, there is no need to peddle hurriedly to get to school on time.” Her father is a factory worker.

Rahul Shah said his family could not afford conveyance to school otherwise, but now that the state government was providing Rs 900 per student, the family only had to pay Rs 300. It felt good to travel in the school bus as it was safer, he added.

These students come from low-income families, with their parents working as skilled or unskilled factory workers. Earlier, during the monsoon or in extreme weather conditions, these students found it difficult to get to school on time. The female students had also expressed concern over their safety when travelling alone in auto-rickshaws. “When there weren’t enough students in the auto-rickshaws, the drivers charged exorbitantly. But now, we feel better as all students know each other and are from the same school”, said Jasmine, another student.

Others to pay more

While the government has started providing Rs 900 per student to those studying in SoEs, other students will have to shell out Rs 1,500 per month. In this 42-seat-bus, nearly half of the students are from non-SoE classes.

Principal’s take

Principal Kuldeep Singh said that with great effort, the school was able to convince the bus contractor to start the service. “The bus covers around 80 km daily. The SoE students are comfortable and we have also requested parents of the non-SoE students to send their wards in the bus for the auto-rickshaws charge around Rs 1,800 per month per student while for the bus they’ll be charged Rs 1200-1500 per month,” the principal added.