Ongoing drive under Safe School Vahan policy cracks whip against defaulters

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 25

The ongoing drive against defaulters under the Safe School Vahan policy has borne fruit as the team constituted under instructions of the district administration, has challaned 63 school buses so far, which fail to comply with the norms under the scheme. Besides, two buses were impounded by the team.

The drive started on April 15 following the instructions of the state government after the High Court’s strict directions on the matter. The drive will continue till April 30.

Rashmi Saini, District Child Protection Officer, said the drive has been continuing over the last 8-9 days. With having members like Transport Officer, an official from the education department, traffic police personnel, etc, the team checks school buses and vans on a regular basis.

Till date, the teams have checked almost 325 buses of which 63 were challaned for not complying with the norms while two buses were impounded by the team. These buses belong to the schools in the city and district. In the periphery areas, the drive is being continued under the guidance of the SDMs concerned.

A principal of a local school said strictness is enforced to avoid any untoward incident with regards to the safety of the schoolchildren. “This has been a sensitive issue as the school van drivers continue to ply beyond capacity. Many times, either the documents are not complete or the buses are not road safe. Lives of students are put at risk when the drivers do not take the instructions seriously. The drive is an attempt to keep a check on the vans, their documentation, etc,” added the principal.

It may also be mentioned here that the government woke to action following the untoward incident at Mahendragarh in Haryana where precious lives of students were lost in an accident.

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