Shillong: The Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) 2.0 claims that it is making all efforts to decongest Shillong city by introducing school buses, but it is facing difficulty since some schools are reluctant to take the responsibility of running these government school buses.
On Wednesday, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma informed the House that extensive consultations were conducted with concerned stakeholders. He further stated that 6,000 surveys were conducted, and over 100 meetings took place before they came up with the pilot model called Sustainable Transport and Efficient Mobility Society (STEMS).
“We felt that this model would be able to provide society-run buses, where the responsibility of running buses would not be the headache of schools, but the society would be empowered to do the work and serve the purpose of ensuring that children can avail of the services,” said Sangma.
Nongthymmai MLA and AITC state president Charles Pyngrope had raised a question about whether the government intends to make school buses compulsory and if so, what amount has been earmarked for the project and how much has been spent so far. Pyngrope also highlighted the plight of children from lower economic backgrounds who have to use public transport to commute.
In response, Sangma stated that approximately 27,000 students are commuting to Laitumkhrah and Dhanketi, and 60% of schools use private transportation for commuting.
Sangma stated, “A lot of discussions were held with stakeholders such as parents, teachers, and police, and many efforts were made to coordinate with schools to start this bus service. However, we found that schools were reluctant to run bus services. They cited that it is very complicated, and their primary work is to teach, not run bus services.”
The chief minister further stated that if this process is successful and if schools are willing to work with society, they intend to extend it and may consider making school buses mandatory. He clarified that he was not confirming whether they would make it mandatory or not, but they had to start somewhere.
The Nongthymmai MLA also suggested that the government should conduct a case study of schools like BJ Bajoria, which have a system of school buses and have been functioning well.
The chief minister also informed that the government is trying to find ways to efficiently utilize these buses, which are used to pick up students during the weekends, for other purposes. Options such as picking up government employees or tourists are being considered.
“Once the society runs these buses, there will be strict measures in place. Parents were concerned, so we ensured GPS tracking, installed 5 CCTVs in every bus, and trained people about the safety of children,” stated Sangma.
Meanwhile, Congress MLA Saleng Sangma suggested that the responsibility of running these government buses should be given to schools and not to society since society would look at the benefit, and their responsibility would differ.
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Sangma stated that the Member’s point is understandable, but as mentioned earlier, many schools are not willing to take up the responsibility.
Currently, a total of 15 schools have tied up with the government and have agreed to avail of the STEM services. These 15 schools are located within Dhanketi and Laitumkhrah.
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