Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Madhya Pradesh Commission for Protection of Child Rights (MPCPCR) has expressed unhappiness over non-compliance with the directives issued by the Commission and the MP High Court regarding the maintenance and supervision of the vehicles used to ferry school children.
In a communication to the Superintendents of Police (SPs), District Education Officers (DEOs), and District Transport Officers (DTOs) of all districts, the Commission has issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for school vehicles.
The Commission said that the apathy of the authorities concerned in this regard was responsible for accidents involving school vehicles like the one that took place in Nagda (Ujjain district) recently. “We cannot endanger the lives of our children,” Commission member Brajesh Chauhan said in the letter.
The Commission has recommended that the buses, vans and Magic vehicles ferrying students should be inspected at least twice every week. The buses should mandatorily have two gates and should be equipped with CCTV cameras, speed governors, and fire extinguishers.
The Commission has also recommended that every vehicle should have an attendant and that police verification of the attendant and the driver should be done. The schools should be made responsible for getting the police verification of the personnel manning the vehicles done.
The vehicles should not use LPG kits and should not be overloaded. They should be regularly subjected to fitness checks. Zebra crossings should be built on roads fronting schools and proper signages should be put up to ensure that the vehicle drivers know that there is school ahead. In case, parents are themselves dropping and picking up their wards, they should be made to execute a self-declaration.
It should also be ensured that music is not played in school vehicles on high volume and that the drivers are not under the influence of liquor, the SOP said.
