Jind schoolgirls hire pvt bus to avoid harassment

ROHTAK: Fed up with sexual harassment while commuting in public transport buses, around 150 students of government girls' senior secondary school in UchanaMandi in Jind district have found a novel way to shun the pestering road Romeos. They have hired a private transport that would ferry them to the school.
The girls, hailing from around 10 villages of Uchana Mandi, have got the special bus service deployed from April 1.It is "women-only" bus and male passengers are prohibited from travelling in it.
The bus visits Makhand, Bhokhra, Kakrod, Uchana Khurd, Budayan, Kar Sindhu, Kheri Masania, Kharak Bhura and Kheri Sapha villages every day. The fare is quite reasonable: Rs 250 to Rs 300 per student per month based on the distance the bus covers from the school.
Sources said many girls had aired their grouse about lack of transport facilities to the school authorities and also complained about recurring cases of sexual harassment during travel in Haryana Roadways buses, which plied on the school route. When the school failed to take any initiative, the girls showed the way. They spoke to a private bus operator and the arrangement was made.
Ram Prakash, president of local Gyan Vigyan Samiti, an NGO working for spread of women's education, said due to spurt in sexual harassment and lack of transport, a number of girls had to drop out of schools in many villages. Prakash said the government must ply special buses for girls to make their travel safe.
Recently, residents of six Haryana villages decided against sending their girls to a government senior secondary school located in Bairawas village of Mahendergarh district following the rape of a girl by a teacher. Two more villages followed suit later after a similar incident.