The annual winter break in Kashmir, stretching over 80 days due to harsh weather, is not just a seasonal pause in schooling—it has quietly become a season of unchecked financial strain for parents. Despite clear and repeated directives from authorities, many private schools continue to charge transport fees even when buses remain off the roads. This persistent violation exposes a troubling gap between policy and enforcement, one that leaves families paying for services never rendered.
The Fee Fixation and Regulation Committee (FFRC) has not been ambiguous. Its circulars—issued on June 30, 2025, December 4, 2025, and reaffirmed in February 2026—draw a clear line: schools outsourcing transport services must not charge any fee during vacations, while those operating their own fleets may charge no more than 50%. These orders also mandate refunds for violations, with penalties attached. On paper, the framework appears robust. On the ground, it is largely ignored.
Parents across Srinagar, Kulgam, and other districts report a familiar pattern—schools demanding full or partial transport fees despite no buses operating. Complaints are made, representations submitted, but enforcement remains elusive. The Director of School Education Kashmir’s endorsements of FFRC directives have yet to translate into meaningful action. There are no surprise inspections, no systematic audits, and no visible consequences for violators.
This failure is not merely administrative—it is structural. The absence of a dedicated monitoring mechanism allows schools to operate with near impunity. Grievances are passed between departments without resolution, creating a bureaucratic loop that benefits no one except those exploiting the system. Meanwhile, parents—particularly from middle-income households—are left to absorb costs that can run into thousands of rupees per child, at a time when winter already constrains livelihoods and inflates household expenses.
What makes the situation more untenable is the imbalance of power. Transport fees are often decided unilaterally by school managements, with no requirement for cost transparency or regulatory caps. Parents have little room to negotiate, especially when education itself is at stake. The result is a system where compliance is optional, and accountability is absent.
The government’s silence on this issue stands in sharp contrast to its promotion of welfare initiatives like free textbooks. Such measures, while welcome, lose credibility when parallel injustices are allowed to persist unchecked. Governance cannot function through circulars alone—it requires enforcement, visibility, and consequences.
If the administration is serious about protecting parents, it must act decisively. A dedicated Transport Fee Redressal Cell with powers to investigate, penalize, and enforce refunds is no longer optional—it is essential. Digital receipts should be made mandatory, and repeat offenders must face blacklisting. Most importantly, enforcement must be proactive, not reactive.
Parents are not asking for favors. They are demanding adherence to rules that already exist. Until those rules are enforced with consistency and authority, the system will continue to fail the very people it claims to serve.
