SC Rules: Schools reluctant to share bus maintenance details

Anomalies involved in maintenance of school buses owned by the private schools here in Capital City is likely to continue as no serious attempts is being made to adhere to the guidelines of the Apex Court. Regardless of several reminders to the private schools and conducting rounds of meeting with school principals to abide by the norms, not even 50 per cent private schools functioning here in Ranchi has submitted the details to the district administration concerning school buses maintenance.

According to Ranchi District Transport Officer (DTO), over 70 private schools in Ranchi who are using buses as primary mode of transportation for ferrying children has to submit the details but not even half of the schools have moved an inch to complete the formalities regarding this.

“Merely, 30 private schools had submitted the details on the prescribed date but only after scrutinizing all applications, picture will be clear. As per the list available, around 70 private schools or even more at present have bus facilities for the students.

Following the decisions taken in January 2018, it was made mandatory for the schools to submit the details of buses including the facilities available inside the buses to the district administration before January 31,” said DTO, Nagendra Paswan.

“By February 18, all schools have been asked to submit the details. Also, a special committee under the guidance of SDO comprising DTO, ADM and others will be constituted in a day or two to monitor the condition and operation of school buses,” added Paswan.

School management committees formulated lately to monitor the status of buses ferrying school children has utterly failed to deliver its duties. Similarly, terming it just a routine exercise over such a crucial issue related to safety of school kids, district administration only after occurrence of any untoward incident swings into action.

During the recent meeting in January 2018 headed by Divisional Commissioner including other related senior officers in view of 32 points, installation of fire extinguishers, Global Positioning System (GPS) and CCTV cameras inside school buses have been made mandatory. Also, school managements have been strictly reminded to get rid of all outdated buses while ensuring that no such buses are brought into operation putting students’ life at stake.

In addition, deployment of a trained staff in every bus was to be ensured by the school governing bodies. Besides this, buses must not be overcrowded at any point of the time. Provisions like safe drinking water, preliminary first aid kit and proper door management must be taken care of.

The guidelines formulated in respect of curbing the arbitrariness of private schools also put a check on bus drivers and conductors. Verification of bus staffs has been made obligatory apart making dress-code compulsory for both the drivers and conductors.

Training of the bus staffs has been made necessary for each school after a regular interval under the supervision of DTO office personnel. Providing identity cards to the drivers and conductors with mobile numbers specifically mentioned on it was also put forward during the meet from safety perspectives.

The meeting held in the presence of all, the decision regarding bus fee hike was also counted on suggesting that the fees charged from the parents/guardians must not be incurred much more than the distance covered by the buses while taking care of the fact that the bus fees should not be charged of more than 10 months at a time.