Stranded at midnight on 2: Raj highway horror of IIT Delhi student sparks outrage over bus safety

The recent incident of an IIT Delhi student when a private bus was stopped at a Rajasthan highway at 2 am due to suspicion of tax evasion is a serious issue in ensuring security to the students. We are always alert as institutions and parents as long as a student's performance is concerned academically, but it is our responsibility that we ensure a safe passage of the students as well.

The reason that the bus was overcrowded and people had to take another bus is inhuman. The incident raises questions regarding abandonment of duty and monitoring of private buses. Our students' safety should be our priority, and transport service must be at utmost level of safety as people.

"It was a normal intercity trip. Manas had booked a sleeper berth from Delhi to Laxmangarh on a top web portal that operates deals with private bus companies. The Rs 900 fare was clearly within reach for an uninterrupted night travel. But in the wee hours of the morning, the trip took a thrilling and rather spine-tingling turn.".

At Shahjahanpur in Rajasthan, the bus was intercepted by local police. Why? The operator had not paid road tax for over a year. And then pandemonium: all the passengers from senior citizens to women and children had to be coaxed out into the dead of night with no B plan on the horizon.

No Shelter, No Support

The bus stood alone in the open highway with hours passing after 2 a.m. "Two hours driving in the dark night with no support, I was packed into another bus with no room in the seats," Manas posted in an now-viral Facebook report of the ordeal that went viral. "Standing room only." And that, too, people were crowded on buses not going even remotely near their destination. They were short by 60 km and asked to return by themselves.

His was an exhortatory, not a complaint—a blistering indictment of the way unregulated private transport schemes can reduce fares not just on schedules but on safety as well.

Outrage Over Indifference

What compounded the tragedy, Manas mourned, was the irresponsible behavior of the web travel site. The customer care center was "mechanical and unhelpful" and did not provide any support in real time during the crisis, he alleged. "No backup. No refund. No accountability," he lamented. "This is not about Rs 900—it's about safety and trust in public transport.".

With the age of tap-to-book customers who expect there to be some sort of verification process undertaken, the experience is missing an element of expectation violation—it's a violation of shared trust. 

Refunds, Resistance, and Outrage

The first reaction to Manas was a partial refund—15% by the company and 25% by the platform. Only when it had struggled back fiercely and inducted it into the limelight of the net was the entire amount reimbursed. "It shows that outrage is required for something that should have been done in the first place," he wrote in a subsequent entry, admitting that he is still not certain if anything tangible has been done to make sure that does not occur again.

The site responded in the comment, "Please be assured! Steps will be taken so that such problems will be contained in near future. Hope to serve you better." But for most readers, it was too little, too late.

The Larger Question: Who's to Blame?

Manas’s ordeal has opened up a larger conversation around third-party travel aggregators and the kind of operators they choose to list. “If you’re running a platform that connects people to travel services, the bare minimum is to ensure those services are legally compliant and safe,” he emphasized.

What Needs to Change

• Tighter Regime: The private bus operators must have a tight regime put forth by the government, forcing them to adhere to safety protocols and pay taxes.
• Responsibility: Third-party online travel websites must be held accountable for the service they are offering, including passenger safety.
• Student-Centric Policies: Schools and transport organizations must prepare student-centric policies with safety and convenience as the primary concern.

A Collective Responsibility

Student safety is the responsibility of all of us. We all need to do our part in ensuring that our learning community is safe for our students. With student safety taken at the topmost priority, we can ensure that such accidents will never occur and give our future leaders a safe and secure learning community to develop.

In a country where half a million of its population rely on intercity buses to go to work, school, or attend to family matters, the accident is an eye-opener. The question it raises is whether this kind of breakdown has been the rule rather than the exception and, if not, whether it is merely viral bloggings by some IIT student that are mounting pressure for change.

Our students come first. We have to move fast and stop all these things so that our students can travel safely. Our country's future is on the line.