Buses flout safety guidelines

Manmeet Singh Gill

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 4

Many school buses transporting children are flouting guidelines of the Safe School Vahan Policy.

The policy has been formed to ensure safety of children. Telephone numbers of the management and the driver are not printed on the vehicles.

The availability of the telephone numbers enables the residents to report instances of rash driving by the drivers to the school management.

Many of these vans don’t have iron grills fitted on their windows.

It has also been seen that most of the school buses have their registration numbers of other states.

An insider in the transportation business said, “The old buses from other states are purchased at low prices and then these are put to transport children. It is no coincidence that most of the school buses have registration plates of other states.”

He said the buses, which have outlived their life, were dangerous for transportation of schoolchildren.

As per the guidelines issued under the Safe School Vahan Policy, the school buses are required to get hydraulic doors fitted.

The buses are also required to have two CCTV cameras; one each at rear and front. The buses must have female attendants.

The policy also requires the buses to have stop signal arm to indicate other motorists to stop when the bus has stopped to pick or drop students, speed governor to limit the speed of the bus, and retracting step that helps students climb up or down the bus.

The buses must also have fire extinguishers and first-aid boxes.

The drivers of the school buses should have a minimum experience of driving a heavy vehicle for five years.

In the past, district transport officials had initiated drives to make school buses follow these norms but they too lost steam.