Autos get off roads, parents, students bear the brunt

Association to meet CM today; meet with DC, Police on Monday

The indefinite protest launched by Private Carriages Association in the city, resulted in inconveniences to parents and their wards studying in various schools, and commuters, here, on Saturday.

Even though, many students from primary classes had a holiday owing to second Saturday, students who had classes, had to be ferried to and from schools by their parents, which brought traffic to a grinding halt, near the schools. The traffic situation was worse near schools such as Ideal Jawa Rotary School, on Krishna Vilas Road, which are located close to the main road. However, not all students could be picked up by their parents after the schools closed.

This forced the Police department to dispatch 30 jeeps to various schools of the city to ferry students from schools back home.

The Association, is staging an indefinite protest against the implementation of Supreme Court guidelines by City police, which restricts the number of children that can be ferried in autos and vans to six and ten, respectively.

Owing to the situation, attendance in schools of the city, was relatively less when compared to other days. Speaking to Deccan Herald, Rekha S N, principal of SVEI School, Mysore said that many students had not turned up to attend classes due to the strike.
“Many parents had called up and enquired in the morning on whether there would be classes, as there was a strike. Since, the strike was unexpected, the school had not declared a holiday. However, after calling us, only a few parents dropped their children to school,” she said. During the afternoon, the school decided to ferry the children who were dropped by their parents in the school bus, she said.

She said that many students are ferried to schools in autorickshaws and vans, and attendance at schools would be affected if the stir continued.

Harshida Harikumar, Principal of Manasarowar Pushkarini Vidyashrama, said that the school was not much affected, as a majority of students were either from the neighbourhood or travelled using the school buses. Owing to the protest, a few parents were forced to drop their children to school, she added.

Raghavendra M, a representative of the Association said that they would be meeting the Chief Minister today, urging him to withhold the implementation of Supreme Court guidelines in the city. He said that more than 15,000 children who are ferried by private carriages to schools, will have to face difficulties, if the stir continues.

Meeting

Police Commissioner, M A Saleem said that the strike had not affected many students, as students of CBSE schools had leaves during the weekend. “We had a list of schools where classes were being held on Saturday. Police jeeps were dispatched to such schools to ferry children,” he said. He said that minor traffic congestions were reported near schools during noon.

He said that a meeting has been convened by the Deputy Commissioner on Monday, where the demands of the Association will be discussed. He maintained that the district administration and police department would convince the Association to withdraw their strike.