The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) officials in Madurai are taking measures to stop school students from standing on the footboards of buses. The latest one is asking school heads to intervene in the matter. The move comes after the officials had received several complaints regarding it.
Speaking to TNIE, the TNSTC Deputy Commercial Manager, Yuvaraj, said, "We seek help from the school heads. School heads need to monitor students and stop them from standing on footboards of buses. In the past one week, requisition letters have been given to those school heads whose students are largely seen standing on footboards of buses."
To solve the problem, the officials had initially introduced additional buses to the routes from where they received complaints of such behaviour on part of the students. However, the complaints wouldn't stop. It is then that they decided to see for themselves as to what exactly is happening; they went on a spot visit at Narimedu, Pasumalai and Thiruparankundram areas of the city.
What they found was rather worrisome, although the buses were empty, the students did not prefer to travel inside them but instead preferred footboard just for fun. Following this, with the help of local police, TNSTC officials started monitoring the students during the morning hours. However, this was only a temporary band-aid as after some time the students were back on the footboards again.