School bus strike over after deputy commissioner rap

LUDHIANA: The 9-day-old strike of school bus/van drivers was called off on Friday after the deputy commissioner instructed the school bus association and school managements to fall in line otherwise which they would face strictest of action.
The school bus association had gone on strike in protest against the challan drive undertaken by district transport officer in compliance with the high court order.Those private school buses and vans were challaned which had been running on roads for more than 15 years, were without permits from schools and had not paid taxes.
Meanwhile, it came as a major relief to parents, whose children were studying in 31 CBSE schools that were affected by the strike. For the past 9 days, parents' daily routine was disrupted as they had to drop and pick up kids from schools. Though most of the parents dropped their kids themselves, some had to hire auto-rickshaws and cycle rickshaws for ferrying kids.
There were many schools which did not agree to sign an agreement with school bus operators.
DC Rahul Tiwari, after meetings with bus operators and school managements at Bachat Bhawan on Thursday, said, "I had a word with them and they agreed to end their strike. They have to follow the orders of high court."
The DC also instructed the representatives of schools to sign the agreement with the drivers. He said, "I have instructed all the private schools to go for the agreement with drivers as the DTO can issue permits only on the basis of the agreement."
"If any school does not follow these instructions, I would forward a letter to the education department to cancel their affiliation," he said.
DTO Anil Garg said, "Neither we have allowed unfit vehicles to be on the road nor we have given them time to replace their vehicles. From tomorrow, all the fit buses will resume their journey."