As we now this world has become
a technological globe. Only those countries can achieve their goals and gain a
proper place in the modern world that contribute maximum of their resources on
education because education is the only key to success.
Our country Pakistan is a developing country and facing many problems such as
politics, economics, health, employment, racism, education etc. As we live in
Pakistan, we face many problems. But being a student, we face several problems
on daily basis and transportation problem is one of them.
In the big cities of Pakistan, the transportation has become a serious issue. As
hundreds of educational institutions have no proper transport facilities for
students and for the staffs. A large number of students came from the sub-urban
areas of the cities to go to the schools and colleges. They are inconvenient in
packed public transport besides the maltreatment by drivers and conductors.
Moreover, the school and college buses run only on specific routes.
“I am a student and always use local transport to reach my college”, said a
student, Taseer Khan. He said, “This is one of the major problems for all those
students who come from far-off areas.” Students complained that majority of the
local transporters do not stop their vehicles when they see awaiting students.
Sanam Ali, a student, said due to financial problems, she couldn’t pay full fare
of the van, while the transporters do not allow student concession. She said
female students, particularly, have to wait for a long time to find a seat in
the transports and due to it they often reach their schools/colleges late. She
demanded the authorities concerned to provide sufficient buses for colleges,
especially for women colleges.
In Lahore, the big and famous educational institution, The University of the
Punjab, having its own transport system for students which is providing very low
and cheap price for pick and drop facility. So let's take a look how much it
cost and what facilities are provided by Punjab University.
There are 56 Buses for students, teachers & staff on 41 routes within the city
and a whole day half-hourly service between the two campuses. To meet the
running cost of University buses a nominal amount is charged from different
categories of students and employees. Mostly students find it difficult to reach
their educational institutions on time due to the non-availability of CNG and
the shortage of petrol. Moreover, the available private transport vehicles were
charging way more than the usual.
“I used my private transport to go to college but the shortage of fuel and the
non-availability of public transport are making it impossible for me to attend
my classes”, said a student,
Habiba Khan. “The buses are overcrowded with male students, and this keeps
females hesitant to travel on buses and wagons,” she added.
Due to lack of institutional buses, Government has taken steps to minimize the
issue; the government provided new buses and introduces a new system of
transport named LTC (Lahore Transport Company) in Punjab.
The Punjab government is all set to withdraw the free transport facility from
students by introducing a ‘green card’ for them, apparently to meet one the many
demands of big transport companies.
Initially, sources said, the green card would be issued to students in Lahore,
but later it would be made a mandatory for students in all the big cities of
Punjab. The cardholders would pay a flat fare of Rs.10 per trip on using the
transport facility.
Student leaders, however, strongly criticized the move, saying that this step of
the government is aimed at helping rich transport companies at the cost of poor
students. They viewed that the vast majority of students of public institutions
would not be able to pay the fare of Rs. 10 because their parents already find
it difficult to afford their education.
About eight months ago, the Lahore Transport Company (LTC) floated an idea to
bring the students into ‘tax net’, in order to meet the demand of the transport
companies that had promised to invest in the urban transport sector. As these
companies have started bringing more buses on Lahore’s routes, transport
authorities have also speed up the process of introducing the new fare policy.
It is worth mentioning that the LTC has issued a fresh fare list for different
routes and increased stop-to-stop fare from Rs. 10 to Rs. 16 as a per-emptive
move to facilitate the transporters in generating more revenue.
Interestingly, now when the transport companies are entering the business, the
transport authorities have announced the issuance of green cards for students.
Recent clashes between the students and new bus operators are the other reason
behind the provincial government’s move to bridle the ‘uncontrolled hooligans’.
“If a student uses three buses to reach his school, he would have to pay Rs. 30
as fare for one side, meaning Rs. 60 daily only in terms of bus fare,” said a
student, questioning how a student could afford this amount of money daily.
“The students across the country had not been paying any fare at buses for
decades. In Lahore, more than 80 per cent students use mini vans, Mazda and
buses to go to their schools and colleges and do not pay any charges. It would
add to the worries of the poor families whose children are studying in
government institutions,” said Muhammad Usman, the president of Insaaf Student
Federation (ISF) Lahore.
According to him, almost all students, who traveled on buses, belonged to poor
or middle class families and they could not afford fare of Rs. 10 per trip.
Criticizing the policies of the Punjab Government, he said that the government
wanted to ‘target’ the youth but it did not give any relief to the students.
He demanded of the government to launch special bus service for the students. He
said that the provision of free transportation to the students was the
responsibility of the government but it was adding to the financial burden on
the parents. Islami Jamiat-e-Taliban (IJT) Central General Secretary Sami Ulla
Husain said that the Punjab government was claiming to eradicate illiteracy, but
it was unable to provide education-friendly environment and proper facilities.
He warned that if the government introduced a green card for transportation,
this would anger the students. He also demanded to the government to revisit the
issuance of green card to the students.
Sami said that the government should consult with students unions and other
stakeholders before launching such a scheme. He warned if the government
enforced Rs. 10 fare per trip, they would launch a protest movement and the
government would have to face wrath of the students.
National Students Federation Punjab President, Irfan Chaudhary said that the
students achieved the facility of free transportation after a long struggle in
the 1960s but the government was making all out efforts to snatch such
facilities from them. He said that the students would never accept the green
card scheme, and that all students unions would agitate if the government
enforced tried to enforce it by force.