By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Oct 7: The school academic session will be over in a couple of months from now but the much-hyped “Sustainable Transport and Efficient Mobility Society” or STEMS bus project in Shillong has failed to achieve the desired results.
The pilot project was launched just ahead of Assembly elections in February this year for the benefit of school-going students.
The government felt students will use these buses and not their private cars and this will help ease traffic congestion in the city.
The service was launched for students from Class V and above from 15 schools such as Loreto Convent, St. Edmund’s School, St. Margaret’s School, St. Mary’s School, Shillong Public School, St. Anthony’s School, Pine Mount School, Kamala Nehru School, Brookside Adventist School, Laitumkhrah Presbyterian School, Divine Savior School, Mayfair School, All Saints Diocesan School, Grace Academy and Kiddies Corner School.
Recently, the state government told the High Court of Meghalaya that 70 students availed the STEMS bus service till August. To this, the court said although the government gave itself a certificate by saying that there has been a substantial progress as the figure increased from 2 to 70, the irrelevance of the measure can be gauged from the fact that the city has more than 50,000 school-going students.
Many STEMS buses are seen parked at ISBT, Shillong. As one bus is equal to 15 cars, the government believed the services would go a long way in reducing traffic if a large number of students use these. The buses are equipped with CCTV cameras and they have trained staff.
After travelling in one of these buses recently, Director of School Education and Literacy, Swapnil Tembe opined that they could also be used for office-goers.
The bus service was expected to be availed by students in Laitumkhrah and Dhankheti as during a survey, it was found out that approximately 27,000 students commute every day in these localities.
As safety is of paramount importance, STEMS procured 30 new, GPS-enabled buses and onboarded well-trained drivers and child-friendly staff called caretakers.
But given the lukewarm response, the STEMS authorities are now trying their best to woo parents via social media to ensure that their wards use the buses.