SHILLONG:
The third day of the Budget session of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, on March 22, witnessed a detailed discussion on the management of school buses under the Sustainable Transport and Efficient Mobility Society (STEMS) programme focused on mobility and overall transportation to decongest Shillong city.
Replying to a starred question raised by Nongthymmai legislator Charles Pyngrope (Trinamool Congress) during the Question Hour, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said the idea of introducing STEMS was to reduce congestion in the city and informed that there are approximately 27,000 students coming to schools in Laitumkhrah–Dhankheti area and almost 60 per cent of these students use private mode of transport.
“A lot of discussion took place with stakeholders such as the schools, parents, police and government administration. A number of efforts were made to coordinate with schools to start bus services, but we found that the schools were reluctant to run the buses, as they stressed that it is a very complicated process and that their primary work is to teach and not to run bus services,” Sangma explained.
He further informed that, to achieve the target of decongesting the city while at the same time react positively to the concerns raised by the schools, the government decided to start this innovative programme of involving the society to run these 30-seater mini diesel buses.
“We are piloting this project, and so far, 15 schools have come forward to avail the services. And if it works well, we can expand it to other parts of the state.”
As of now, Rs 11.3 crore has been earmarked for this project and the amount spent is Rs 0.19 crore.
“The project is fully funded by the government through the Planning department,” Sangma informed.
Raising a supplementary question, Pyngrope asked if the government intends to make this service mandatory for the schools, to which Sangma replied in the negative.
“I am not saying we will make or not make it mandatory but we have to start somewhere. The proposal to put up a society to run these buses in coordination with the schools and parents and the administration seems to be the more practical way to start. Maybe as the situation unfolds, we can decide accordingly,” Sangma said.
Raising another question, legislator Ardent Basaïawmoit (Nongkrem-VPP) said that, to achieve this objective, the government should stop issuing NOCs or permissions for establishing schools in the city.
Replying to this, Sangma said, “It would not be appropriate for us to stop schools in Shillong city. We have to see and balance both things out; education is crucial for our children – schools should be accessible to the people so we cannot discourage that.”
Meanwhile, Saleng Sangma (Gambegre-INC) said, considering the history of society-run buses in the state, referring to the JNNURM buses, it will be wise to allow the schools to run the buses rather than diverting the responsibilities to a second party.
The chief minister replied, “It would be a good solution if the schools run it but a large number of schools are reluctant to run it. That is the problem. But we are not closing the option of giving it to the schools. Like I said, there is no perfect decision but this option maybe the best possible option right now.”
Raising a question on safety and security of the students, Nujorki Sungoh (Mowkaïaw-UDP) asked if the government has any specific guidelines for schools buses in the state, to which Sangma replied, “There will be strict measures – the buses will have the GPS tracking system where the parents can track the buses from their phones and we have about five CCTV cameras installed in every bus; the people manning the buses will be trained to ensure the safety of the children is maintained.”
Sangma further informed that one of the reasons for involving a society is to ensure the buses are being utilised in an efficient and productive manner and not just picking up and dropping students but other purposes.
“After school students are dropped, the society may then see how the buses can be used – maybe to pick up government employees or maybe on a weekend – instead of the bus lying in a vacant place, it can be used to pick up tourists. The whole idea of creating a society is to ensure that we are able to run the system in a proper manner,” the chief minister added.
The other members who raised related queries included Charles Marngar (Mawhati-INC), Brightstarwell Marbaniang (Mawlai-VPP) and Miani D Shira (Ampati-AITC).