LAGATAR24 NETWORK
Ranchi, April 23: The District Transport Officer Praveen Kumar Prakash on Saturday issued a legal notice to the concerned school managers/vehicle owners of 23 private schools in the city over orders from Deputy Commissioner Chhavi Ranjan. The action was taken after school buses were found not meeting the safety standards. Notably, the District Transport Officer checked buses of various schools on Thursday.
The list of schools that have been issued a notice includes:
- Bishop Westcott Girls School
- Bridge Ford School
- Cambrian Public
- DAV Bariatu
- DAV Dhurwa Sec -2
- DAV Kapildev
- Delhi Public School
- Firayalal Public School
- J K International
- Jawahar Vidya Mandir
- Kairali School
- Loreto Convent
- Manan Vidya
- Metas Adventist
- New Cambrian Public School
- Sacred Heart
- Sapphire International
- Saraswati Shishu Vidya Mandir
- Sarla Birla
- St Francis School
- St. Michael School
- St. Thomas
- Tender Heart, and
- Vivekanand Vidya Mandir
The notice questions these schools’ management about the circumstances under which the school buses are not being operated by the said school management as per the safety standards set by the Road Safety Committee of the Supreme Court. The safety standards prescribed for school buses are being violated without care for students’ safety in those buses. The notice further questions why any action should not be taken against the management of these schools under the Motor Vehicles Act and the Indian Penal Code.
The District Transport Officer has also instructed schools to update all the documents of their buses and operate a bus only after fulfilling the prescribed safety standards for the vehicle’s operation.
Notably, all the schools have reopened and all the buses are used by children to and from schools. However, this is not the first time when such a notice has been issued. Prior to this, a letter was sent out by the DTO to all the school managers and vehicle owners to complete and update all the documents and to comply with the safety-related standards.