Operators cock a snook at safety suggestions

With school bus operators not willing to relent on their opposition to the school bus policy in both its existing and amended avatars, your child’s safe commute to school seems elusive as even the most basic safety features as mandated in the policy are being turned down.

Anil Garg, president of the School Bus Owners’ Association (SBOA) said only about 20 buses have appeared for fitness tests in April and May at the city’s Regional Transport Offices after installing the new safety features. “In protest against the government’s lack of initiative, the rest of the bus operators will not install the features and take the tests. In any case, many of their fitness certificates are valid till late September and beyond,” said Garg.

While admitting that he has no issues with the policy amendments that were proposed keeping in mind the demands made by the association, Garg said it is the “government’s inconsistency regarding the norms” that is being opposed. He added, “They keeping making unnecessary changes. For instance, the deposit for speed governors was jacked up from Rs10 lakh to Rs25 lakh. We will pass on this burden to the students by increasing fees by 25%.” DNA could not independently confirm this claim.

In a similar vein, Jayant Jain, president of the Forum for Fairness in Education, said, “Presently, there is a lot of confusion while implementing the policy. This is bad for everyone — bus operators, schools, children and parents. In the forthcoming session, if there is any problem with policy implementation, the blame will lie squarely with the government,” said Jain.

Indrani Malkani, policymaker and activist who framed the original policy, said, “Certain issues need to be corrected and ambiguity in interpretation of the rules must be removed before it can go to the schools for implementation. Until then, the policy cannot be implemented in the true sense.”