School bus drivers in Goa demand better salary

The drivers and attendants employed with Goa government's school buses have expressed dissatisfaction over the low salaries paid to them.

The union representing these nearly 900 workers has demanded that the government increase their salaries.

"The drivers are paid a salary of Rs 10,000 per month while the attendants get Rs 5,000, which is very low. When the schools have holidays, they are not paid for those months," union leader Swati Kerkar told reporters today.

The school buses, commonly known as 'Balrath', were introduced by the state government about eight years back to address the problem of ferrying students.

Kerkar said the union has been approaching the state government with the request to raise the salaries of these workers and absorb them as full-time government employees but there has been no response to their pleas.