One can understand the plight of parents whenever they hear of a school bus involved in an accident. But, how many of them bother to find out the condition of the bus and the attitude of the driver towards safety?
More than a week after the reopening of schools, many school buses are yet to get the mandatory Fitness Certificate (FC) from the Regional Transport Authority (RTA). As many as 366 out of 1720 school buses are yet to obtain the fitness certificate.
FC was rejected in some cases and Certificate of Fitness Rejection Report (CFFR) notices were issued for those vehicles. CFFR would give the reasons for rejection and the applicant/driver would be given a copy of the same. The technical defects would have to be rectified and the bus could be brought for FC once again after a week.
“School buses can be taken out on to the roads only after the issue of FC. Those which ply without a valid FC are liable to be seized and heavy penalties will be imposed. Here parents can also play a key role in ensuring the safety of their children by checking the FC of the school bus, in which their kids travel,” says Deputy Transport Commissioner S. Venkateswara Rao.
Website
“All that the parents have to do is to note down the registration number of the bus and check its FC validity on the website: www.aptransport.org by typing the registration number and finding the FC status in the relevant column. They can also report to me (DTC) on my mobile no.98481 71102 or send an SMS or Whatsapp message, if they find the bus plying without an FC,” he said.
They should also take turns to travel in the bus once a week or so to watch whether the driver is indulging in rash driving. This is important for the safety of children.
Further, school buses cannot be misused for weddings and political meetings and if the managements are found misusing the buses for any other purpose except for transporting schoolchildren, a penalty of ₹ 3,750 would be levied on each seat. The owner and driver would be prosecuted. The school management has to give prior intimation to the Transport Department, even if a single driver is replaced by them.
The Transport Department is conducting training programme for the drivers on road safety awareness and traffic rules. The school managements can contact the Road Transport authorities for details.
