Maharashtra to add 100 midi buses for students in remote areas

The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation's red buses, known as ST, will now reach even more remote villages, hilly areas and narrow winding paths. Transport Minister and ST Corporation chairman Pratap Sarnaik said the corporation's fleet will include 100 Punyashlok Ahilyadevi midi buses. The aim is to ease travel for tribal residents, rural people and students, especially in areas that larger buses cannot reach.

According to Minister Sarnaik, "ST wherever needed" is not just a slogan but the corporation's firm commitment to take public transport to the farthest corners of Maharashtra. Tribal families and students in villages and hamlets who still walk several kilometres for education, jobs, hospitals and daily needs will now have the support of these buses. Sarnaik said the thinking behind the decision is to build a path for ST buses on the tracks of remote areas.

The minister said larger buses cannot reach many places because of hills, steep climbs and descents, narrow roads and sharp bends. As a result, tribal residents, and especially students going to school and college, have to walk 10 to 15 kilometres every day to study. To remove this difficulty from students' path to education and to give people in remote areas safe, reliable public transport, the decision has been taken to run 28-seater midi buses on such difficult routes.

These midi buses will run on routes that are difficult for larger buses to reach. The ST Corporation says that however narrow the road, however steep the climb or however difficult the bend, the wheels of these buses will not stop in serving passengers.

Minister Sarnaik also acknowledged that running bus services on these routes will not be economically profitable, but said ending the compulsion for tribal families and students to walk is more important than profit and loss. He said, "Public transport is not a service to be measured only in terms of profit and loss, it is a responsibility connected to society. If a student's daily walk to school is reduced, if a tribal family's journey to the market, hospital or city becomes easier, the value of that service cannot be measured only in money."

He further said that "where there is a village, there is ST" has been the corporation's identity for years. But even 80 years after independence, ST services have still not reached many tribal settlements in the hills. Connecting these settlements through midi buses is not just about providing transport, but about linking them to education, hospitals, jobs and the mainstream of development.

Minister Sarnaik said this drive by ST buses is not just about covering kilometres but about reducing the distance between people. It gives direction to students' path to education, connects tribal families' lives to development, and links remote Maharashtra to the mainstream. He said, "Serving passengers is ST's first priority, and to put this principle into practice, all decisions necessary to take ST to the farthest corners of Maharashtra will be taken."