KOCHI: Bringing child safety issues to the fore, a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus dropped two 12-year-old children 10 km away from their destination, forcing the state child rights commission to register a suo motu case against the bus conductor.
The incident happened on November 7 in a town-to-town limited stop bus plying from Paravoor to Aluva. The children who boarded the bus from Paravoor after school, were unaware that it was a limited-stop service and that it wouldn’t stop at Manakkapadi, their destination.
Muralidharan, father of one of the students said, “On realising that the bus wouldn’t stop at Manakkapadi and the next stop was 10km away, the kids panicked and called me from a co-passenger’s phone. They didn’t have the money or the knowledge to make the journey back. I requested the conductor to stop the bus at Manakkapadi so that the children could get down safely. However, the conductor refused and allowed the kids to get down only at Paravoor Kavala.”
According to Muralidharan, the bus wasn’t crowded at all and the conductor could have heeded to the request and helped the children, considering how young they were. “They were extremely harried and clueless as it was getting dark as well. I felt this injustice had to be brought to the attention of authorities as it was children’s safety that was at stake here,” he added.
NP Antony, member of Kerala State Commission For Protection Of Child Rights (KSCPCR), said a case has been registered and a notice will be sent to the district transport officer, KSRTC managing director, road transport officer and the district police chief on Monday.
"Paramount interest has to be given to children’s safety. The rules are that every action should be in the best interest of children. Here, there has been a clear violation of norms. The incident was brought to our notice and we decided to file charges. A written complaint too has been filed by the parent," he added. Meanwhile, KSRTC officials are said to have launched an inquiry into the matter.