With only five days left for reopening of the schools, a cross section of auto drivers here, under the banner of Federation of association of Auto drivers, and a section of taxi van drivers have decided not to undertake school trips in the coming academic year.
The federation has taken this decision after it found that most norms laid by the transport department were impractical.
According to the norms, an auto driver has to get the endorsement from parents and school authorities after which the permit would be issued to them to operate. Besides an auto driver would be permitted to carry only five students per trip, which was eight earlier. If the age of the students is above 14, only three would be allowed to travel in the vehicle and those above 14 would be considered adult. The norms have been made stringent considering the safety of students after an HC order.
“We have been forced to refuse school trips as the norms are impractical. Carrying five students will not be economical for a driver and it should be made eight. Drivers will have to compromise with many trips if the present order is enforced. Maintaining time will also be a problem. Many depend on school trips to earn a living,” explained P K Sukumaran, president, Federation of Association of Auto drivers.