Jamshedpur: When schools reopen, parents and the educational institutes of the Steel City will have to give an undertaking to the district administration that their children will not drive down to the institutions. The move, officials said, is aimed at curbing the menace of underage driving and road accidents. In case a student is found violating the norms, his/her parents will be held liable.
Notably, months after the July 2019 incident of 13-year-old Aditya Pathak dying in a road accident while driving his two-wheeler helmetless, the state government had introduced changes to the Motor Vehicles Act to penalise parents of erring children with fines, jail terms and cancellation of licenses.
East Singhbhum deputy commissioner Suraj Kumar said, “I have asked the district education officer (DEO) to take a declaration from the principals of all private and public schools. Meanwhile, parents have to submit to the schools that they will wear helmets while dropping their children to schools.”
Helmets are also a must for schoolchildren riding pillion and parents have to sign a declaration to the tune. “Parents will also have to give a declaration that they are nor triple carrying while dropping their kids to the schools and agree that the administration is free to take action upon violation of the norms,” Kumar said.
While the school managements will keep a record of the declarations, they will have to furnish the same before the administration during surprise inspections. “Action will be taken against the schools if they fail to furnish the documents,” said Kumar.
In a guarded response to the move, Jamshedpur Abhivavak Sangh (JAS) said the administration should also ask the schools to run pick-up vans and buses for the safe movement of the children.
“Due to the lack of sufficient school-controlled vehicles and overloaded private pick-up vans, parents are forced to drop their wards to the school on personnel vehicles,” said JAS convenor Umesh Kumar.
Welcoming the initiative, St Mary’s English School said the step will help in checking road mishaps. “Our school will cooperate with the administration in its effort to prevent underage schoolchildren from driving down to schools,” said the school’s spokesperson A K Pandey.
On an average, every year at least 140 people are killed in about 280 road mishaps in the city.