Covid-19 Lockdown Affect
School van owners protest over no payment by parents for lockdown period
Ferozepur, June 11, 2020: The economic distress in India caused by the lockdown is dire and the majority of people, barring employees with fixed income, are seeing decreases in income since the lockdown began. In context thereof, one such class is of school van owners-drivers of three districts – Ferozepur, Faridkot and Moga - who jointly hold a protest today, in the local grain market over non-payment of charges by the parent due to closure of schools in the wake of the threat of coronavirus.
Munish Kumar, Kulwinder Singh Kala and others said, we perform our duties sincerely and honestly to pick the children from home and drop daily in the respective schools. They alleged that they had not been paid fee for the lockdown period and don’t have any savings because of very low and fixed income.
One of the owner-cum-driver said, we had already made a request to the government to extend financial assistance out of the funds earmarked for the disaster and it is the right time to use these funds. We want that a part payment may be made to us to manage the household affairs. When we approach the parents, they express their inability to make payment while some of them agreed to pay only for the working days.
Giving the logic of paying the taxes to the government, they make an appeal to the government said, all taxes and loan interest on EMIs taken against the vans should be waived of. But there is no point in denying the payments to the van drivers when the government employees are getting regular wages even during the lockdown period.
Our survival is not possible in the absence of any financial assistance from the government or payments by the parents. We are willing to negotiate with parents for giving payments in parts.
But many of our members have complained that parents are refusing to pay the monthly bus fare in full when schools are closed. They don’t understand that school bus operators have other fixed costs such as loans etc.
One parent told me face-to-face, Rajiv Arora said, the parents must pay to the van drivers those who are in government and drawing regular salary. However, on the part of drivers, they may compensate with the parents also to some percentage for bearing the cost of diesel and maintenance of the vehicle during this lockdown period.
Another, who only wished to be known as Bhupinder, expressed hope that the government would extend some kind of cash assistance to operators if parents refused to pay.
They, however, threatened to intensify the agitation if there is no solution to their genuine problems.