NCPCR inquires about safety measures in school buses

New Delhi: If the school bus has a first aid box or a facility of drinking water, was among the few questions which were included in the set of 56 questions which was asked from schools in the Capital by National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). The move aims at checking whether the schools are providing proper safety and security to children inside the school buses.

The official from NCPCR told Millennium Post that they are checking the implementation of the guidelines by the Supreme Court for transportation of school students. ''We have asked State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) to check the implementation of the guidelines in school buses in the Capital," said NCPCR official.

Not only in Delhi but they also sent the questionnaire in other states and also conducted the workshop in one state where they met parents, students, teachers, drivers and the conductors whether they have found negligence and summoned two officials from Uttar Pradesh.

Priyank Kanoongo from NCPCR said that they are taking every possible step for the safety of the children for which they have been monitoring the situation of transportation for the children. "If the negligence found, action will be taken," he said.

Sources claimed that in the workshop, many of the bus drivers and conductors were not aware of the safety and security of the children inside the bus.

NCPCR has been getting the complaints where the school and bus drivers have been playing with the safety of the children. The questionnaire which is with the Millennium Post stated that whether the school authority took periodic feedback from the school children using school transport facility with regards to the driver, conductors being taken on the records of same being kept.

The commission had also focused on checking the background of the bus drivers and the conductors whether they have involved in any criminal case or not in past. The child rights' body has investigated that the number of private schools which gave transport facility to the children is high in comparision to government schools so to avoid any negligence, the commission is regularly monitoring the situation. "We have received the report of the schools which will be analysed," said the NCPCR official.

The commission had also asked schools whether the school bus were having two fire extinguishers of five kilograms capacity with ISI mark and whether the driver, conductor and woman guard have been provided training about how to use them. The child rights' body has also asked schools about the design of the school bus like windows.