Students get long holiday as,1000 school buses go for election duty

According to official sources, this year, the School Bus Owners' Association has offered fewer buses for election duty

School kids in Mumbai are enjoying an extended holiday, thanks to no buses being available in the city. With over 1,000 school buses being used for election duty this year, several schools in the city declared two day's leave, starting Monday. Authorities said that the decision was taken to avoid any difficulties for parents as most students rely on the bus facility for transport.

Usually, only schools that are used as voting centres declare holiday for students on election day. But, this year, many schools annou­nced a two-day leave despite not being a voting centre. Swami Vivekanand International School in Kandivli is a case in point. "Around 45 bu­ses from the school are being used for poll duty, so the school is shut today," said Kishor Vasudev Jaguste, transport manager of the school.

Parents, however, claim the school didn't specify the reason for this leave.

Incidentally, this year, the school bus owners' association have offered fewer buses for poll duty. In the previous election year, 3,000 buses were pressed into service. "We gave our buses for poll duty on Sunday and it's been manageable so far," said Anil Garg, president of school bus owner's association.