The School Bus Owners Association (SBOA) has welcomed the government’s decision to curb unauthorised school vans that ferry students without entering any agreement with the concerned school and parents, failing which the licence and permit of the driver would be impounded.
Following a rise in the number of complaints against illegal vans, the government decided to make van operators more accountable by framing policies on the lines of the school bus policy. The complaints are usually from parents who join resources to hire a van to ferry their children without taking school authorities into confidence.
Some of the points that the policy will cover include hiring experienced drivers, proper seating arrangements for children with a limit on the number of children, proper and routine maintenance and fitness of vehicles, yellow colour code with ‘school van’ prominently displayed and a permit from the RTO to operate as a school van. The policy will also streamline safety measures that will need to be put in place for the safety of the students.
Giving the move a guarded welcome, Anil Garg, president of SBOA, said that while the policy was much-needed, there were many areas that the committee that framed the policy had missed out and should also include the same to make the policy more holistic.
Pointing to some of the issues that need to be looked at, Mr Garg said, “While drivers need to have five years’ experience they should also have a badge just like school bus drivers. The agreements with schools should be exclusive so that there is a single operator who will be authorised to run the van service. Also, permits should not be given in MMRDA region as it will give rise to corruption and misuse of the same in connivance with the traffic police,” said Mr Garg.
