…They want to go to school, but not a bus to ferry them

Gurgaon: The wheels of normality may have started rolling again but those that would transport Rashmi Patel back to the seat of learning are still clogged.
Seventeen-year-old Rashmi beamed with excitement when she heard that the government had allowed senior school to open from July 16. This was the last year of schooling for the Class 12 girl and she did not want to miss out on catching up with her friends. However, the excitement was only for a few minutes. Someone reminded her that the only bus service between her home and school had remained suspended since the lockdown last year.
“I was so excited to go back to school. It’s my last year there and I don’t want to attend classes from home. The only bus service between Rajendra Park (where she stays with her parents) and my school has not been restored yet. The government must think of basic transportation before reopening schools,” said Rashmi, a student of Jacobpura Senior Secondary School.
Rashmi and a dozen of her classmates have taken their long-pending demand of a bus service to the deputy commissioner and requested him to ensure some means of public transport for the area.
“We have given a letter to the deputy commissioner and requested him to help us. The last time too, when schools had opened up, we faced immense difficulty going for our classes. Safe public transport is so essential for girls like us. It is our right,” said Monika, Rashmi’s classmate.
The demand to resume bus services in Rajendra Park has been lingering on for nearly six months now. In January this year, TOI had reported about the plight of around 100 girl students from the area who had been grappling with lack of public transportation to reach their schools.
They had submitted a memorandum to Haryana Roadways then. Six months on, no action has been taken on their request.
When repeated appeals fell on deaf ears, the girls and their parents approached local BJP MLA Sudhir Singla and Badshahpur legislator Rakesh Daultabad to seek political help. But little has moved since.
While some are bearing the high cost of riding private auto-rickshaws, most have to walk 3km to the next bus stop. “In roadways buses, it takes merely Rs 20 to reach our school from home. Shared or private autos charge anything between Rs 40 and Rs 60 for the same ride. For us, that’s a big amount. Moreover, our parents don’t trust private transportation. It becomes difficult for us to convince them to send us to school every day,” Rashmi said.
Roadways officials said it was for the transport department to resume the services at Rajendra Park. The area now comes under the services of GMCBL, which looks after the city bus network. The roadways has forwarded a letter by the girls to GMCBL.
GMBCL officials assured the demand of the students would be examined. “We have also received a request from the deputy commissioner. We are looking into the feasibility of operating a bus service on that route. We’ll soon take a call on this,” said Anju Chaudhary, the GMCBL CEO.