Transport Department urges private schools operating buses to ensure compliance with safety norms

Amid apprehensions among parents about (in)adequacy in maintenance of school buses by the managements, the Transport Department has impressed upon the need for the individual institutions to assume responsibility for safety of their students.

Though the Transport Department undertakes inspection of the buses at the start of every academic year, the responsibility of constant monitoring of compliance to the specified safety norms vests with the managements, a senior official of Transport Department emphasised.

In Coimbatore district, the Transport department inspected 1,741 school buses operated by 274 private managements across the district, to determine compliance with the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicles (Regulation and Control of School Buses) Rules. Fifty eight buses were denied permit due to deficiencies.

According to officials, the managements that show laxity in maintenance of school buses will be reined in.

In the event of accidents, the provision to revoke the Fitness Certificate will be invoked by the Inspection teams if the safety norms had not been complied with, the official said.

According to parents, the authorities must, in particular, scrutinise utilisation of retreaded tyres for the school buses, and initiate action on managements.

The managements follow the practice of collecting bus fee for to-and-fro transport of the students upfront.

While substantial amounts are collected by the managements, not all spend enough money on maintenance.

“Once the Fitness Certificate is given for a bus, the same condition has to be maintained until the vehicle is brought for the next inspection. Any instance of replacement of worn-out spare parts with second-hand products will be dealt with severely,” the official said.