Keeping the interest of students who struggle to get buses to reach their educational institutions, Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has added more buses to such routes. The bus corporation came under severe criticism after videos of students running behind the crowded buses, and students footboarding the bus risking their lives went viral.
As students are provided bus passes on concessional rates by KSRTC, people and opposition criticised the bus corporation for neglecting students by not giving stops at places where students board the buses in large numbers, especially after the launch of the Shakti scheme that is offering free travel to women in ordinary buses. A few students even took to the streets and protested in Ramanagar and Mandya regions, stated a report by The New Indian Express.
Highlighting that the bus corporation has taken measures to address the problems faced by students, KSRTC MD Anbu Kumar said, “Last year, there were problems for students in getting our buses, especially in regions like Tumakuru, Ramanagar and Chikkaballapur.”
Routes with major complaints from students were identified by KSRTC. They immediately started addressing them one by one and have increased the number of buses operating in such routes, especially during the peak hour when the number of students boarding the buses are high, Kumar said.
“As of now, we have addressed the students bus shortage issue from wherever we received majority of complaints. In the coming months, we will be inducting more than 500 buses and adding 2,000 more crew to KSRTC. Students will not have any trouble this year onwards as we will adding more buses as and when it is delivered to us," he said.
Kumar stated that the bus corporation would not claim that they have addressed all the problems of students, went on to explain how the demand for buses begins and said
"With the addition of new educational colleges and schools, coaching hubs, training institutes, hostels, residential layouts and other infrastructure there arises a demand for new buses to such routes. We will address them too, based on demand,” he said.
