THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The threat raised by the District Passenger Minibus Drivers’ Welfare Association to go on an indefinite strike in protest against the district administration’s move to enforce strict regulations has fallen flat before the District Collector’s stern stand. Besides calling off the strike, the Association, on Sunday, also had to agree to all the regulations put forward by the authorities, against which they had earlier announced the strike. District Collector Dinesh Arora had called the representatives of the school van drivers for a meeting on Sunday, after they had announced the indefinite strike the previous day. But the association had to backtrack after the Collector stood firm in his stand that he would not allow incidents like the Karikkakom school van tragedy to repeat. The Collector, a week ago, prior to the reopening of the schools, had issued a checklist that had to be followed by every school van conducting services in the district. The checklist included a set of strict instructions aimed at preventing the overcrowding of students in school buses and vans. It also had instructions on the safety measures that had to be put in place in the vehicles in case of emergencies. The drivers had announced the strike in protest against the police allegedly blocking them on the road and taking the headcount of the students inside the vehicles.
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