308 school buses challaned in Ludhiana

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, February 17

As many as 308 school buses were challaned and 36 impounded for flouting norms during a special checking today. Following the Longowal (Sangrur) tragedy in which four school-going kids were burnt alive as their school van caught fire, a special drive was conducted by the Ludhiana district administration and the police in the city to check the school buses.

Officiating Deputy Commissioner Iqbal Singh Sandhu said to ensure the safety and security of schoolchildren, a large-scale checking of a total of 918 school buses was conducted in the district today. The checking drive was carried out by all SDMs, the Regional Transport Authority and the police.

A total of 483 buses were checked by the Secretary, Regional Transport Authority of Ludhiana, and all SDMs. Of these, 138 were challaned and 22 impounded. Similarly, 435 buses were checked by the Commissioner of Police, of which 170 were challaned and 14 impounded.

Departments told to submit daily report

Sandhu said the checking of school vehicles would be done daily as strict instructions had been issued to the officials for effective implementation of the Safe School Vahan scheme. The departments concerned have been asked to submit a daily report in this regard.

He said it had come to his notice that the school and educational institutions did not follow the directions issued by the Transport Department under the Safe School Vahan scheme. That is why these instructions are issued.

Sandhu said the Commissioner of Police, Ludhiana, police chiefs of Ludhiana (Rural) and Khanna, the Secretary Regional Transport Authority and all SDMs had been told to ensure that all school buses/vehicles are checked. District education officers have been instructed to constitute a sufficient number of teams to check on various schools to see if they are following the guidelines of the scheme.

Similarly, the District Child Protection Officer has also been assigned the duty to inspect the vehicles of different schools daily and send the report to the district administration for compliance with the said scheme. Sandhu has issued a strict directive to the authorities concerned and school administrators, stating that any school found not implementing the scheme in the proper sense would face strict legal action.