School buses owners Association to go on indefinite strike from July 2

The Maharashtra School Bus Owners Association has announced an indefinite strike. School buses will go on strike from July 2, 2025. 

This decision taken by the bus drivers at the beginning of the new academic session has created concern among students, parents and even the school administration.

The School Bus Owners Association has taken this decision to protest the government and the transport department's neglect of many issues related to school transport. If the government does not pay serious attention to our demands, we will stop school bus services across the state from July 2.

The School Bus Owners Association said in a statement that although it is not the role of our organization to stop services, we are forced to take this decision due to the difficulties arising in the school bus business.

Problems arising in the school transportation sector have been ignored for the past several years. The major issues include unreasonable action taken by the traffic police against bus drivers, penal action through e-challan for facilities like CCTV, web reader and GPS, as well as the difficulty in obtaining necessary permits, informed President Anil Garg.

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In the wake of their protest, the association has put forward four demands before the authorities:

• Cancellation of e-challans: Immediate cancellation of all pending e-challans issued to school buses for duty-related stops near schools.
• Moratorium: The protesting organization has demanded a moratorium on the issuance of e-challans until the appropriate pick-up/drop-off zones in the school are determined.
• Setting up a joint task force: The association demands a joint task force comprising government officials, RTOs, police and transport associations to find a long-term solution for better governance and protection of bus operators from exploitation.

However, the state government has not issued any reply or statement in the wake of this matter.