Bengaluru: Most school buses are not complying with the Supreme Court guidelines for carrying school children in buses and vans, according to the transport department of Bengaluru. It is quite ironical that the biggest hurdle facing the transport department in ensuring the safety of children travelling in these buses is the parents who are objecting to the seizure of buses carried out by the RTO.
On Monday, the RTO seized 20 school buses of Kendriyala Vidyashala and since Tuesday, the department has been stopping the vehicles on the spot and warned them to follow rules. When RTO officials tried to prohibit erring school buses and vans from boarding children beyond their capacity, the parents and guardians opposed the move. This led to chaos and heated arguments among parents, RTO officials and drivers.
Narendra Holkar, Joint Commissioner for Transport Bangalore urban and rural told Deccan Chronicle, “On Wednesday our enforcement team reached Bishop Cotton Boys School and warned them about the ongoing violations. All the schools are violating the norms, but Bishop Cotton is a major offender. They are putting benches inside the van. When the driver applies the brakes children could have a bad fall. Again we found one child sitting on the lap of another and some buses do not have proper windows. In a small school van, with a maximum capacity of 18 children, there were nearly 30.”
He added, “Many times we have spoken to the school authorities, but they don’t seem to be bothered. Earlier we had given them a deadline of March. On July 15, we will have a programme with Bishop Cotton Girls School as well. But we are not able to stop the menace because the parents are not cooperating and they are supporting these erring vehicle operators. The school management and private vehicle owners are taking advantage of the parents. We can seize and fine all the vehicles and make them comply with the rules in matter of two days, but we need support from the parents.”
The Joint Commissioner said the prime concern of the department is ensuring the safety of the children. “We are not interested in levying fines but we want to make sure all the guidelines are followed strictly. Currently, we are stopping the vehicles wherever we have found them violating the norms and warned them but again the parents are not supporting us. I would urge them not to send their children in such buses and instead drop them themselves or send them in buses that comply with all the safety guidelines,” he added.
The SC guidelines make it mandatory that if the age of a school child is below 12 years, the number of children carried shall not exceed 1½ times the permitted seating capacity. A child above 12 years shall be treated as one person. There must be enough space provided to keep school bags inside the vehicle and the bags should not be hung outside the vehicle or placed on roof carriers.
