TURA: Car poolers who have been using their private vehicles to ferry students to and from school are worried over the recent order issued by the West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner that prohibits the use of private vehicles for commercial purposes.
With the failure of the State Government to provide jobs many educated youths including those with families have been using their private vehicles to ferry school students to meet their daily income needs. Most often, these children are siblings or those belonging to relatives while some are children of neighbours residing in the same locality.
Many parents prefer using private car pools as the cost of hiring registered and commercial vehicles is much more than what they have to pay per month to private users, which comes around to not much more than Rs 1000/-.
With the new order in place, these car poolers are in a dilemma whether to carry on their part time income earning activity as it could lead to payment of hefty fines, legal hassles as well as the seizure of their vehicles.
“I have been driving my neighbours’ children to school since 2015 after I was requested by some parents. As I am still unemployed, it was a good way to earn some income. But now that the order is in place I do not know what to do,” an unemployed youth who recently completed his BA said.
Another unemployed family man who decided to start the venture has been stopped in his tracks by the new order.
“I had already been engaged by some parents from the locality to ferry their children to school and back. But now, with the new order I am not sure I will to take the risk,” he said.
Similarly, parents have also raised concern over the order as it would mean that they would have to pay more by hiring professional vehicles to send their children to school.
It is worth mentioning that local auto rickshaws charge as high as Rs 1600/- to Rs 2000/- per child per month to ferry them to school and back.
Earlier, the DC’s order had prohibited all kinds of commercial use of private vehicles with a strong warning that offenders would be prosecuted under relevant provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act 1988 and the Meghalaya Passengers and Goods Taxation Act.
