Going ahead with safe transportation facility for school children, it was decided that the concerned school will be held equally responsible in case the school bus meets with an accident.

Schools will be responsible if their bus drivers do not follow safety norms. Legal action will be taken against the school authorities as well in case their school bus meets with an accident. To make sure that rules made for school buses by the State government are strictly followed, road safety clubs will be formed on school level. Every organisation will appoint a senior teacher of the school as Transport co-ordinator under whose directions rules for school buses will be strictly implemented. ASP Sudhir Joshi held a meeting in Police line assembly hall on Tuesday with Permanent Organizing Committee for school buses where discussions were held with police, transport department and Department of Education regarding safety rules for school buses. He said that all educational institutions will have to keep a check on fitness of their vehicles whether private or external, drivers’ qualifications and seating capacity of buses. Schools are expected to strictly abide by the rules and regulations. Police will perform surprise inspection of school buses. Any lapse will be dealt with strictly. There will be no compromise with children’s safety.

ASP Joshi said that there are school buses with a seating capacity of more than 10 students. Such buses will be exempted from tax under 28G of 1951 act of Rajasthan Motor Vehicle Tax. Vehicles registered before 8^th March 2017 with seating capacity of 10 will have to pay one-time tax as per notification issued on 14^th July 2014.

GPS in school buses mandatory

RTO Manna Lal Rawat said that educational institutions will have to install GPS system in their school buses. Schools have to install CCTV camera on their main entrance gate and compulsorily hold road-safety lectures and discussions by forming road-safety clubs. Students having license will be allowed to bring their own vehicles in school. Helmets are also compulsory for such students.

It was suggested that autos and vans ferrying children to school should not be allowed to have children more than their recommended capacity. Shabbir K. Mustafa offered to provide free driving lessons to the children if such a training ground is made available by the institution. Harish Rajani suggested having a record of students driving their own vehicle to school. ASP Joshi laid emphasis on the fact that all school bus drivers should be appointed only after a detailed verification. Their qualifications and whereabouts are mandatory for school records. Police verification of the drivers from the respective police stations is also mandatory.