Managements of different educational institutions, especially those on the city outskirts, are cold to the proposal of the RTC to set up exclusive bus pass counters on one of the college premises to facilitate issue of bus passes to students of nearby colleges.
College managements are reluctant to make their premises available for setting up the bus pass counters, as students of nearby colleges would be coming to their campus to get passes issued or renewed. They apprehend that the visiting students could be unruly and may possibly resort to teasing of other students too.
If any objections are raised, the RTC authorities can argue that opening a counter in a college to cater to needs of nearby college students. The authorities hope is that it would become easier for them to verify the documents produced by the students and check the menace of fake bus passes.
Authorities issue over 4.5 lakh student bus passes in the twin cities every year through 53 bus pass counters across twin cities. And about 75,000 students travel to the city fringes such as Ibrahimpatnam, Hayathnagar, Hakimpet, Patancheru, Medchal, Jeedimetla and other areas every day.
As a pilot project, exclusive bus pass counters were launched at CBIT in Gandipet and JBIET Moinabad, a couple of years ago. These counters serve around 5,000 students of surrounding areas. Buoyed by this, RTC authorities requested other college managements to allow them to start similar counters, their request is now being resisted.
The outcome of the refusal, authorities argue, is that the students find it difficult to go to the bus pass counter after their college hours. In addition to this, the passes are issued on the documents issued by the colleges and many a time, people submit fake certificates in the name of students and take passes.
During a special drive recently, authorities detected 38 cases of fake passes and also passes issued due to fake certificates. What drives other people to take student passes on bogus certificates is the extreme subsidy component. The student monthly passes cost for Rs.85. Every academic year about 5,000 new student bus passes are issued and it is practically very tough for conductors to detect fake passes.
RTC authorities say if counters are opened at colleges, it would be easier for them to crosscheck with the college managements the details of bus pass seekers. The other reason for reluctance on part of college managements could be they apprehend a decline in their income as many students may not opt for the college-run transport services, which charge exorbitantly high fee. They could as well prefer a student pass at just Rs.85 per month.
