In Yamunanagar, DTO asks Edu Dept to ensure norms are complied with by April 20

Shiv Kumar Sharma

Yamunanagar, April 12

Deputy Commissioner Captain Manoj Kumar and Superintendent of Police Ganga Ram Punia inspected several school buses here today. During the inspection, nine buses were challaned as those buses were being operated in contravention of the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, and rules under Surakshit School Vahan Policy formulated by the government.

One of the said buses was seized as there were no CCTV camera and first aid box in the said bus.

After the accident in Mahendragarh, the District Transport Officer-cum Secretary, Regional Transport Authority, Yamunanagar, Hairatjeet Kaur has now formed a dedicated team that will conduct regular checks on only school buses of the district. The team, which comprises Transport Inspector Gurjeet Kaur and Motor Vehicle Inspector Anil Kumar, initiated the work from today.

An official of the department said that there were about 800 school/college buses in the district and checking of those vehicles was done time to time.

“Now, on the directions of Hairatjeet Kaur, DTO-cum Secretary of RTA, Yamunanagar, a special team has been formed only to carry out checking of vehicles related to schools of the district regularly,” said the official of the RTA, Yamunanagar.

He said that the DTO-cum-Secretary had written a letter to the District Education Officer and the District Elementary Education Officer, requesting them to issue instructions to all schools to ensure compliance with laws, rules and instructions issued by the Transport Department.

The DTO-cum-Secretary, in her letter, has also asked the Education Department that the school managements should be directed to ensure that their buses operate in conformity with rules and with required documents by April 20.

“In case of any default, after the stipulated date mentioned in the letters, strict action as per relevant provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, and Surakshit School Vahan Policy shall be initiated against the school management, owner and driver of the bus, besides invoking other relevant laws in force at the time of incident,” the DTO-cum-Secretary wrote.