It has been more than a year since the four school vans owned by T.M. Santhosh of Kochi is lying idle.
Earlier, he used to ferry close to 100 students every day to school and back in these vehicles. Since the lockdown, over 3,000 van owners of the district like Mr. Santhosh have been rendered jobless.
With no income from the vehicles, the insurance and annual vehicle tax payments have been defaulted. The vehicles cannot be taken out as the insurance coverage expired one year ago, says Mr. Santhosh who is in the sector for the past three decades.
Earlier, the beginning of every academic year used to be a joyful experience for those employed in the sector, as they too would be back at work after the two-month-long summer break. This time, as another academic year begins in the online mode on Tuesday, a pall of gloom hangs over the lives of many school van owners and their employees.
“It would require around ₹35,000 as insurance and another ₹24,000 as tax for a vehicle. I don’t know how I will raise the amount. The repayment of vehicle loan has also been defaulted. The moratorium on the loan is over and it has become a bad debt,” says Mr. Santhosh.
“I have filed the Form G for the vehicles to exempt them from paying annual tax. I don’t know when I would be able to revive the business. With no income, many vehicle operators like me are in a serious crisis,” he says.
For every city school, says M.V. Susan, wife of Mr. Santhosh, who handled the collection of bus fees, there would be around 50 private vehicles to ferry the children. All those vehicles are now lying idle with the schools shut, she says. M.A. Sreekumar, one of the drivers employed by Mr. Santhosh, found an alternative employment as a mechanic in an automobile workshop after the lockdown.
Though the State government had offered financial support to those who lost employment in various sectors, both Mr. Santhosh and Mr. Sreekumar say they are yet to get any aid from the government. “I didn’t get any support from the government, as I am not a member of any welfare scheme for the drivers, say Mr. Sreekumar.
Entrepreneurs like Mr. Santhosh and his crew are eagerly waiting for the schools to get back to the physical mode, as every extended day of online education translates into another day of penury for them.