RTA, traffic police conduct audit of school buses, find lapses
The regional transport authority(RTA), Gurgaon traffic police and road safety officers(RSO) conducted surprise inspections of school buses at various places on Thursday in a bid to make an assessment of the safety and security measures taken by the school authorities
The regional transport authority(RTA), Gurgaon traffic police and road safety officers(RSO) conducted surprise inspections of school buses at various places on Thursday in a bid to make an assessment of the safety and security measures taken by the school authorities.The drive was aimed at creating road safety awareness and cracking down on violators.
The team conducted an audit of buses at Blue Bells Model School, Gyan Deep Senior Secondary School, Xion International Convent School, and DAV Public School.
The officials have decided to continue with the surprise inspections and visit three schools each week.
Of the 42 school buses inspected, four had no fitness certificates, three had CCTV cameras that were not functional and the registration certificates of another two were found missing, the police said. “We have served notices on the managements of these schools and have told them to get their act together and ensure that the loopholes are plugged at the earliest,” a traffic official said.
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The surprise inspection was to check if the school bus operators were adhering to the safety norms laid down under the Surakshit School Vahan Policy.
“We have prepared a detailed report on our assessment and the lapses we found. It will be sent to the secretary, RTA, who will take necessary action against the defaulters,” Rajkumar Yadav, RSO, said.
Kaeshika Dewani , another RSO, said, “We had compiled a checklist on the basis of guidelines laid down under the Surakshit School Vahan Policy and assessed how the schools fared on these parameters.”
The aim of the drive was to ensure safety of children riding on school buses.
On Jan 31, a school bus with 35 students on board caught fire in Gurgaon. The incident evoked alarm and raised question marks on the safety of schoolchildren.
Trilok Chand, secretary, RTA, said, “We have served notices on three schools asking them to adhere to the safety and security guidelines. We have also directed them to ensure installation of CCTV cameras and GPS-enabled devices in buses before April 1.”
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) had also issued guidelines regarding the safety of schoolchildren and several meetings had been held at the RTA office to ensure compliance. Several reminders were given to schools to adhere to the Surakshit School Vahan Policy.