Now Reading: MP schoolgirls force bus operators to roll back fare hike
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MP schoolgirls force bus operators to roll back fare hike
Schoolgirls in Madhya Pradesh's Vidisha district forced private bus operators to restore old fares after protesting a hike that would have doubled their transport costs. On August 12, students of Kanya Higher…
The Story in Brief
Schoolgirls in Madhya Pradesh's Vidisha district forced private bus operators to restore old fares after protesting a hike that would have doubled their transport costs. On August 12, students of Kanya Higher Secondary School in Sironj gathered at the bus stand for 30 minutes, saying the increase from Rs 10-15 to Rs 25 would burden families and hurt attendance.
Sub-Divisional Magistrate Om Narayan Badkul, along with police and tehsildar, met the students and later negotiated with operators. The rollback applies to schoolgirls travelling between rural areas and Sironj. India Today reports that fares had ranged between Rs 10 and Rs 15 before the proposed increase to Rs 25.
The Indian Opinion
The story of schoolgirls in Vidisha forcing a fare rollback is heartening but also exposes a quiet failure: no one stopped to ask why bus operators thought doubling the fare on school routes was acceptable in the first place. The SDM's intervention worked, but it shouldn't take a protest for officials to notice families struggling with Rs 10-15 increments. If this becomes a model, every town needs the same test: does the administration monitor school transport fares routinely, or only when children block a bus stand?
Source: indiatoday.in
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
