Plaint registered against Sri Ram School for flouting safety norms in buses

The Haryana Child Protection Commission along with officials from education, transport and child welfare departments—all a part of the ‘Surakshit School Vahan Policy’ inspection team — have registered a complaint with the district administration against Sri Ram School in DLF area for not following the safety procedures in their school buses made mandatory by the Haryana government to ensure safer transportation of school-going children in the state.

The officials have also complained against the school authorities for allegedly “misbehaving” with the senior officials of district administration who had gone to inspect the school buses on Friday.

The Punjab and Haryana high court had made it clear last year in May that schools cannot be careless in ensuring safety of students in school buses, whether owned by schools or hired from contractors.

The inspection committees at the state, district and sub-district levels had been constituted for laying down norms for safer transportation of school-going children, and their implementation and enforcement.

However, according to B K Goyal, Member, Haryana Child Protection Commission — who headed the inspection team, said that Sri Ram School and its buses hired from contractors have been found to be in a shoddy condition on a number of instances. “They do not have any safety procedures in place within the school buses like CCTV cameras, GPS systems, and even female attendants. They have been flouting the 

‘Surakshit School Vahan Policy’ on various occasions and have no fear of law whatsoever,” Goyal added.

According to the High Court order, the committee is authorised to conduct inspection of school buses in the district either on the premises of the concerned school or at such other places to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Haryana Motor Vehicles Rules for safer transportation of school-going children.

“We have received a complaint against the school but the school authorities are denying the allegations. However, we would be visiting the school tomorrow (Saturday) and will conduct our own inspection and inquiry. If the school administration is found guilty, an FIR would be registered against them under suitable sections and strict action will be taken against the school authorities,” said Ramesh Pal, Assistant Commissioner of Police (DLF).