Vahan Seva Sanchalak Samity promises no �unfair� increase in fare

Jamshedpur : The newly formed body of school pool van operators � Jamshedpur School Vahan Seva Sanchalak Samity, has made it clear that there will be no �unfair� increase of school van or auto rickshaw fare by drivers at any cost.

The announcement coming two-days after the school vans resumed their services after five-day long strike to protest traffic police crackdown against overloading pool vans would be breather of sort for parents after several drivers had informed parents of increasing fare in view of the administration restriction on number of students to be ferried in a vans, auto-rickshaw and SUVs.

The mobile number would be released both in the media and also available with the school pool van/auto-rickshaw/SUV operators.

The Samity general secretary said that they would be finalising fares depending on distances and number of students (upper limit) which can be carried in a van/auto/SUV so that the driver earn a livelihood.

A group of autorickshaw and van drivers who carry school children have taken the responsibility to monitor overloading in vehicles.

They have formed the samity with about 200 members have initiated a project to co-operate with the district administration and to organise the system that would benefit students, parents and themselves. The organisation recently conducted a meeting in front of the Sacred Heart Convent School.

” We want to coordinate with the administration. We are trying to do something for the first time in so many years. The idea is to reduce the risk of the children are being ferried totally on risk and the administration has been trying to crackdown but nothing quite yielded result.

Therefore, we took this as our responsibility to monitor and also make the drivers counsel against overloading,” said, a member of the School Vahan Chalan Sangh.

The members have distributed about 1000 forms since yesterday. The drivers will have to fill up their details and later all the forms will be submitted to the district administration.

The form requires the drivers name, the registration number of the vehicle, the school which they cater to, the pick-up and drop point and the total distance covered in one trip.