Private Schools Association of Jammu and Kashmir (PSAJK) has welcomed the pro-active approach of Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Dr Shahid Iqbal in resolving the transportation issues including allowing one-time registration of all vans hired by schools or parents and other concerned problems of private schools.
“The issues have been lingering on for so many yearswith little or no help from the government, but all this has changed as the DCSrinagar has taken a pro-active role to resolve the issues. The safety ofchildren has always been as the top priority on our minds and transportconstitutes an important sector where we were facing some problems for manyyears. The lack of clarity of rules and regularisation had kept both schoolmanagement and parents worrying for the students,” said G N Var chairman PSAJKin a statement.
“Now the DC Srinagar has taken steps to resolve all of theissues which has brought a sigh of relief among all the stakeholders.”
The Association had a fruitful meeting with DC Srinagarwherein the two sides discussed threadbare the issues of school transportationand other concerned problems. “The students come to our schools in eitherschool buses or private vans. There were issues with van transportation. TheDistrict Administration decided to award one-time registration to such vansprovided they follow the rules. In this regard it was decided that schools willfurnish list of vans used for transportation of students so that a formalnotification can be issued permitting utilisation of such vehicles under thecommercial category,” said Var.
“The district administration has asked all van operators toregister themselves at the DC office by July 15 so that everything will becomelegal and safe,” he said.
In this regard, the Association has appealed all schoolmanagements who manage the van transport and all private van operators andtheir associations to register themselves at the DC office before the deadline.”No vehicle will be registered after the deadline,” said Var.
Besides resolving one-time regularisation issue of vans, DCasked officers present in the meeting to issue circulars pertaining to 1.5seating capacity ratio as per Supreme Court directions, fixation of fare andgave directions on other pressing issues too.
The Association said that all the steps taken will ensurethat students reach schools in a safe and comfortable atmosphere. TheAssociation also expressed its gratitude to the district administration foragreeing to convene a committee for fixation of school bus transportationcharges in the district, saying it will go a long way in streamlining the vitalsector.
“The Association welcomes the “pragmaticapproach” of DC Srinagar and expressed hope that other districts will alsotake a lead to address grey areas in the vital private education
The meeting was attended by ADC KK Sidha, RTO KashmirIkramullah Tak, SSP Traffic Tahir Gilani, SP Hqs. Majid Malik, Dy CEO MudasirKaleem Fazli whereas the PSAJK team was represented by G N Var, Manzoor A. Wangnoo, Shabir A. Mir, MuhammadYusuf Kuchay, Imran Shah, Mubashir Wafai, Muhammad Shahid Dar, Bilal Ahmad andMerajuddin Zargar and others.