Malerkotla: Ensure safety of children during travel, schools told

Our Correspondent

Malerkotla, April 24

Authorities at various educational institutes of the region vowed to reckon safety of their students as top priority and do their best to implement ‘Safe School Vahan Scheme’ in letter and spirit.

An oath was taken in response to a call made by the administration led by Deputy Commissioner Pallavi during the concluding session of a seminar held here.

ADC Rajpal Singh and Regional Transport Officer Harbans Singh chaired the inaugural and concluding sessions of the seminar while SDMs Gurmit Kumar Bansal, Aparna MB, DSP (H) Karamjit Singh, DEO (S) Jaswinder Kaur Grewal and nodal officer Mohammad Irfan Faruqi were keynote speakers.

Purpose of the seminar was to educate staff of the transportation department of various schools about the safety of children on roads where negligence gives rise to road mishaps, besides updating about guidelines of the Safe School Vahan Scheme.

Appreciating the response received from authorities at various government and private schools and colleges of the region, DC Pallavi said that organisers of all the educational institutes had assured to constitute Student’s Safety Committees according to set norms without further delay.

The speakers highlighted salient elements of the Safe School Vahan Scheme, a policy which is directed and issued to all the educational institutes by the Punjab Government in compliance with the directions of Punjab and Haryana High Court.

A safe bus-body fabrication was the primary norm, which all vehicle owners had to follow with proper maintenance of the vehicle and each school was required to constitute a committee headed by principal for the same. The committee, consisting of at least one police official not below the rank of ASI, motor vehicle inspector, a delegate of DEO and representative of parent-teacher association, is supposed to convene a monthly meeting to review the implementation of the policy.

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