Hyderabad: The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) on Wednesday announced that it resumed bus service to a village in Rangareddy district after an Class 8 student of a government school wrote a letter to Chief Justice India Justice N. V. Ramana.
P. Vaishnavi, a resident of Chidedu village in Manchal mandal of Rangareddy district, wrote to the Chief Justice that she and her siblings were facing difficulties in commuting to their school and college as the bus service to their village was stopped during the first wave of Covid-19 and was not resumed yet.
The 13-year-old girl wrote the letter in Telugu to Justice Ramana, who hails from neighboring Andhra Pradesh.
Vaishnavi, a student of government school, wrote that she along with her brother P. Praveen, a student of ninth class at the same school, and their sister P. Preeti, 15, a student of intermediate first year at a private college were facing difficulties in reaching their school and college.
She said that her father died of cardiac arrest during the first wave of Covid-19 and the mother was taking care of them by doing a small-time job, and that travel in an auto rickshaw to their school and college was costing Rs 150.
The CJI brought the plight of the girl and her siblings to the notice of the state-owned TSRTC.
Assistant Registrar-cum-Private Secretary to CJI, S.K. Rakheja sent a letter to TSRTC Managing Director V.C. Sajjanar, enclosing a copy of the letter written by Vaishnavi to the CJI.
“According to her, the bus service of State Road Transport Corporation to her village was stopped during the first wave of Covid and has not resumed as yet.
“She pleaded through the said letter for resumption of the bus services so that she, her siblings and friends could attend the school and college which are at distance of 6 kms and 18 km, respectively from her village. In the absence of bus service, they are apparently incurring high expenses to travel by auto rickshaw,” reads Rakheja’s letter dated November 2.
“I am directed by Hon’ble the Chief Justice of India to bring this to the notice of appropriate authority for necessary action so as to enable the children to commute safely between their village and places of learning through economic mode of public transport,” it added.
Sajjanar announced on Wednesday that TSRTC has restored the bus service to send the students on school timings in token of honoring Right to Education.
“TSRTC management sincerely thank the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India for alerting us to restore buses to send students on school timings in token of honoring Right to Education,” he tweeted.