Mysuru: There are many Government welfare schemes, both at the Centre and the State, meant to mitigate the problems of the poor, downtrodden and marginalised sections. No doubt, the schemes are full of good intentions. But, sometimes, the ground reality is different.
Take the concessional bus passes issued to rural students for instance, which is paved with good intentions. Has the real concerns of the students been addressed? Majority of the students, coming from rural areas, are finding it difficult to attend classes on time. It is because of the rules of KSRTC that they have been put to a lot of inconvenience.
The passes issued to the students are restricted to the students to commute from the nearest bus stand to the college. This has resulted in many of them reaching their colleges late.
The students commuting from rural areas do not have the facility of going to the Central Bus Stand (CBS). If they had an opportunity to travel from the CBS then their problems could be solved, said a few students.
This problem is being faced specially by students of Kuvempunagar Government First Grade College. They have to catch the buses midway to the college and when the fully-loaded buses reach the bus stops, they do not have even an inch of space to get in. The buses most of the times do not even stop. Hence, a lot of time is wasted.
The rural students going from Hullahalli to Kuvempunagar First Grade College, for instance are facing this problem. When they take a bus from their village, they have to alight at Agrahara Bus Stop and then catch another bus to Kuvempunagar. As already mentioned, most of the times, the buses are packed like sardines and the students cannot get into the bus.
Pratap Kumar, a first B.Com student of the Kuvempunagar First Grade College, speaking to Star of Mysore said, “I come to the college from Hatvalu Village near Hullahalli. My bus pass does not have the facility of me catching the bus from CBS. I have to catch a bus from Hullahalli and get down at Agrahara Circle then I wait for the bus to Kuvempunagar for more than an hour. Most of the time even when the bus comes, the driver does not stop as it is already full. If I had the facility of catching the bus from CBS then I would not face this problem.”
KSRTC fails to respond to appeal
A few of the students of Kuvempunagar First Grade College told Star of Mysore that they had approached the KSRTC with a letter from their Principal to address their problem. But, the officials there flatly refused to listen to our plea stating that there is no provision in the rules of KSRTC to allow them to catch the bus from CBS.
However, it is learnt that a few students from rural areas do travel from CBS to various colleges with the bus passes they possess. “We do have the facility of travelling from CBS apart from the designated bus stops,” said a few students.
When Star of Mysore spoke to the KSRTC officials, they were categorical in stating that there was no way students could travel from CBS, if it is not in their way. However, if the route is from the CBS, then they could travel. Instead, if the students are misusing the facility and travelling from CBS, then stringent action will be taken against the officials, if it is brought to their notice, said officer Srinivas.
“According to the rules of KSRTC, the bus passes are issued to the students from the place of residence to the college to the nearest bus stop. For example, if rural students from K.R. Nagar and Hunsur are studying in Kuvempunagar First Grade College, then they need not go to CBS. Hence, they are issued passes to travel from Ramaswamy Circle. On the other hand if students from Malavalli and Bannur have to travel to Kuvempunagar, they are given passes from CBS.”
—Srinivas, Mysuru Rural Divisional Controller, KSRTC
This is just one among the many problems ,students are facing. I did my studies in Maharani”s college and yuvraja”s college, and hold the worst experiences.The petrol bunk stop is the bus stop close to Maharani”s college, it’s a junction where a lot of city buses have to pass by, but the saddening part is, at the sight of students, the drivers never stop by the bus stop.The only reason being the “student pass”. If at all they have passengers getting down, they make sure they stop the bus away from the bus stop avoiding the students get in. You can see them running to and fro to catch the bus, but no mercy. The same happens at the ramaswamy junction, where buses come from all three directions, but none stop for the students. And the reason drivers have is, “if only students get crowded up in the bus, then what do we do for tickets?” My simple answer is, if all the buses, that are supposed to stop by, give the necessary stop, rather than just one or two of them, the buses won’t be crowded.
The best witnesses are the auto drivers, Who have suggested me to stone the buses to stop them. I, alone have given written complaint about this, thrice, but no response, not even an acknowledgement of receiving it. Wish, our drivers could see his child in every student , struggling . We don’t expect extra efforts, but just their duty of stopping the bus at the rightful bus stops
I being a student, can I travel with my pass in the alloted route during any time in a day.
Like after 10pm / 11pm?
In some bus, some conductors are not allowing student pass after evening 7 o clock. Please tell me is there any real orders like that???