Death of Class 4 student: School bus blacklisted, didn’t have fitness document

The vehicle in question is among the 756 buses available with 166 schools, which have been blacklisted due to non-renewal of fitness certificate

The school bus of Dayawati Modi Public School, from which a Class 4 student peeped out of the window and died after his head hit a pole, was in operation without any fitness certificate and continued to run despite being blacklisted, said officials of the regional transport department.

Ghaziabad, India – April 20, 2022: A view of the school bus after 11-year-old Anurag Bhardwaj, student of Dayavati Public School, died in a tragic school bus accident in Modinagar, Ghaziabad on Wednesday, April 20 2022. (HT Photo)

The vehicle in question is among the 756 buses available with 166 schools, which have been blacklisted due to non-renewal of fitness certificate.

A fitness certificate is issued to indicate that a vehicle is complying with different norms and procedures and is fit to be driven on road. It is renewed by the transport department after proper physical and technical inspection of the vehicle. It certifies that the transport vehicle complies with the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. It also certifies that the vehicle complies with the safety aspects

According to the guidelines for safety of children and fitness of school buses, every school vehicle should have words “school bus” and “on school duty” written in the front and rear of the vehicle; no school bus shall ferry passengers on roads, every school bus should have names, address, class and blood group of children and route chart, every bus should have male or female staff for safety of children; the maximum speed of the school bus should not be more than 40kmph and the installation of speed governor is mandatory.

Police seized the bus of Dayawati Modi Public School, after 10-year-old Anurag Bhardwaj stuck his head out of the window of the moving school bus and succumbed to injuries, which he sustained after his head hit the pole of a gantry gate near the school on Wednesday morning.

“We have blacklisted the registration of vehicles whose fitness has expired. The fitness of the school bus involved in the death of the Class 4 student expired on March 7 last year. The vehicle was blacklisted on October 8, 2021, following which notices were sent to the vehicle owner to renew the fitness certificate. A report has also been sent to the district authorities in this regard,” said Vishwjeet Pratap Singh, additional regional transport officer.

According to the records of the transport department, some of the prominent schools whose buses have been blacklisted involve the ones located in Ahimsa Khand, Indirapuram, Meerut Road Industrial Area, Shakti Khand in Indirapuram, Sanjay Nagar, Dasna, Mohan Nagar, Vasundhara, Loni and Modi Nagar.

On Wednesday, police said the bus was owned by Dayawati Modi Public School and was not a hired one. HT tried several times to reach out to the school on landline but there was no response. School principal N P Singh also did not take calls.

According to official records, the district has total 1,899 school vehicles, 756 of which are already blacklisted as their fitness has expired, said officials.

“We have formed several teams in different zones and a special drive has been launched till April 26 to find school buses operating without renewing its fitness certificate. All the 756 buses have been blacklisted on the portal and notices have already been served to all the 166 institutions,” he added.

The death of the boy on the moving school bus has shone the spotlight on school transport and raised concerns among parents, who use this mode of conveyance to send their wards to schools.

“The schools charge a hefty transportation fee from parents and they are entrusted with the safety of our children. It is complete laxity on the part of the school and also the transport department that a bus was running operations even after getting blacklisted. This further indicates that there maybe other blacklisted vehicles plying on the road and putting the lives of children at risk,” said Vivek Tyagi, spokesperson of Ghaziabad parents’ association.

Police said that they are waiting for official communication from the transport department and the issue of fitness certificate and backlisting of the bus will be incorporated as evidence in the death of the Class 4 boy.

Members of the Association of Schools’ Federation said the death of the boy was unfortunate and that schools should abide by norms.

“The transport department must have a list of all the buses or vehicles, which are blacklisted and should ensure the vehicles are not in operation. Holding school authorities responsible is not feasible in every case. Many of these buses ferrying school children are hired. We appeal to schools to get the fitness of vehicles and other works done in time and abide by laws,” said Subhash Jain, president of Independent Schools’ Federation of India, which has about 100 schools as its members.