Bengaluru: Jobless School Bus Drivers Turn Street Vendors

The Covid19 pandemic and lockdown have hit everyone hard. With the schools not working and mostly functioning online, many staff members have lost their jobs. The school staff doesn’t have any work to do. they will only be relieved once the school reopen.

Among those who are suffering due to the lockdown, are also the bus drivers and van drivers who would take the kids to school. These poor drivers do not have any work now. They have no choice but to resort to other jobs including selling vegetables. The problem is that the government did not include these people in their list of beneficiaries for the relief fund.

Many drivers are now facing financial trouble as they have nothing to do. Children are not going to school which has left over 40,000 mostly Tempo Travellers (TTs), buses, Omni vans and other drivers out of business. One driver even had to sell his two TTs during the lockdown to support the family. The family fell into crisis during the lockdown after which they had no choice but to sell house items. Another one started selling vegetables. 

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Driver Asif Khan sold his TTs and bought essentials with the money. After driving an autorickshaw for over 14 years, he was able to save enough money to buy the first TT. Once again after selling his TTs, he had no choice but to go back to driving an autorickshaw. He rented one from his friend and is now driving the auto to earn money. 

Karnataka United School and Light Motor Vehicle Drivers’ Union shared that they were left heartbroken. They received no help from the government. The Karnataka state government did not include school bus drivers in their list of beneficiaries who will be eligible for relief. Neither did they think of us in the first wave nor the second one.

The president of the Union said that they met the officials many times. They requested the ministers over and over again but in vain. The issue is that even if the schools reopen now, they will face problems with the fitness certificate, road tax and insurance payments. This will again cost them a high amount.