Faridkot, May 6
Around 15 students of Class X of a government school suffered multiple injuries in Faridkot on Friday after a goods carrier, ferrying about 30 students to an exam centre, skidded off the road.
The students of Government Senior Secondary School at Koharwala village, Faridkot, were going to a government school at Rori Kapura village to write their Class X exam.
The injured students were shifted to the Civil Hospital, Kotkapura, for treatment. One seriously injured student was referred to medical college in Faridkot. SSP Avneet Kaur also visited the students in the hospital.
While most of these allocated exam centers in the rural area are 10 to 15 km away from the school of the students, there is no proper transportation arrangement for ferry the students.
Parents of large number of the students are daily wagers and can’t afford to manage transport for them. So, the school ferry these students to the exam centres in goods transport vehicle and every student pays Rs 40 to Rs 50 for the transportation.
Instances of goods carriers being overloaded and transporting passengers are common in this area but both the traffic police and the Transport Department often turn a blind eye to these violations. Most villagers and labourers prefer these vehicles as they have to pay a meagre amount.
Other than checking this illegal use of these vehicles, we will create awareness campaigns for villagers as use of goods carrier vehicles for ferrying passengers is a violation of the Motor Vehicles Act, said SSP Kaur.
We will improve bus connectivity in rural areas to help students in reducing their dependence on goods carriers and put an end to the menace, said Shiv Raj Kapoor, district education officer, Faridkot.
15 pupils heading to exam centre injured as vehicle skids off road
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