E-Paper
Schools have no control over private operators
Although the schools in the city claim to be strictly following the safety norms laid down by the Supreme Court, the ground reality is that majority of the school buses are run by private operators with no control of the former with regard to enforcement of rules.
Although the schools in the city claim to be strictly following the safety norms laid down by the Supreme Court, the ground reality is that majority of the school buses are run by private operators with no control of the former with regard to enforcement of rules.
As per an estimate, about 70 per cent of the 800 school buses in Gurgaon are run by private operators.
Only a handful of schools run their own buses.
The government authorities, too, fail at times to lay their hands on the unruly operators.
“In our buses, we have a driver, a conductor and a transport coordinator who is an ex-serviceman and trained to handle adverse situations.
Apart from these, teachers are always there,” said Sudha Goel, principal, Scottish High International School.
“Our buses are air-conditioned, so windows cannot be opened. We get the buses examined after every month and ensure that commuting in these buses is 100 per cent safe,” she further said.
A transport department official, on condition of anonymity, said it is usually difficult to take action against private bus operators as they have a huge clout in power corridors.
“We ensure that all buses have iron bars on the windows. Though we hire private contractors, we make sure that everything is intact in the buses,” said Anita Makkar, principal, DAV Public School (sectors 14, 10A and 48).
“Besides that, we train our students in the morning assembly by telling them not to take theirs hand, head or any other body part out of the moving vehicle. We do our best to ensure students’ safety,” she added.
