Ambulance ferrying tribal students to exams centres

Due to the ongoing Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) strike over the last six months, an ambulance has been ferrying over 20-25 students from Dahanu’s tribal hamlets to their schools in order to make sure they appear for their board exam on time. The ambulance service was initiated by a Mumbaibased non-profit organisation for these tribal students.

President of the Alert Citizen Forum, Niranjan Aher said the issue came to light after an NGO posted a photo on social media, following which the vehicle was arranged to ferry the students to their exam centre.

“We had to walk the 10 km stretch to school as transportation facilities of ST buses have been reduced. Also, spending Rs 40 for oneway trip on a private vehicle is not feasible. When the NGO got to know of our plight they arranged for a better and free-of-cost means of transportation through the ambulance,” said a student. Aher said the students have been facing problems for the last one and half years and that the NGO decided to ferry the students studying in the ninth and tenth standards.

“Our NGO has been working in these villages for a few months and we have provided ambulance services for the students which will be an easier way to reach their exam centres during the MSRTC strike. We are ferrying around 20-25 students on a daily basis. So far, we are lucky there has been no medical emergency in the village during the time of commute,” Aher said, adding that in the event of a medical emergency a tempo has been kept on standby as a backup option.

Meanwhile, all girls in rural areas are being provided transport facilities from their village to school under the Human Development Program. Between 2011 to 2013, around 625 buses have been provided to 125 talukas in order to implement this scheme of providing transport services to the students.