‘Padanavandi’, a model other states want to emulate: Transport minister

Thiruvananthapuram: Inquiries are coming from other states about the concept of ‘Padanavandi’, an innovative concept of the state government wherein KSRTC buses set for scrapping are being converted to classrooms, said transport minister Antony Raju on Monday.
The first Padanavandi is set to roll out at teachers’ training institute, Manacaud in the capital, where a KSRTC low-floor bus has been converted into a classroom at a cost of Rs 3lakh. It was inaugurated by the transport minister and general education minister V Sivankutty on Monday. The first Padanavandi has been set up for students from pre-KG till fourth standard. The Padanavandi includes smart television, air conditioner, racks for storing books, etc. The makeover of another KSRTC low-floor bus as Padanavandi is also underway. The second Padanavandi is being set up in two floors, in which 40 students can be seated at a time.
In addition to using the Padanavandi as a reading room, one session for every class in a day will be organized inside it. The minister said that the Padanavandi concept is an answer to those raising baseless allegations to show the government in poor light. The minister said that more such buses will be handed over to schools based on their requirement. He said that another bus has been handed over to a school in Palakkad for turning it into Padanavandi.
During Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown, several KSRTC low-floor buses that were left idle in the yards got damaged and could not be further operated. Instead of scrapping such buses, the government came up with the idea of turning them into classrooms.