Educational institutions demand time from transport authority to implement new norms in phased manner

The response from schools could not have been more lukewarm. Of the over 6,000 schools in the district, barely 100 responded to the meeting called by the Regional Transport Office (RTO) to discuss safety of children in school vehicles. The meeting organised by the RTO at Tilak Smarak Mandir last morning went on till afternoon. Jitendra Patil, deputy regional transport officer, made a presentation on the new norms for school buses issued on March 22 by the home department and asked schools to step up on their implementation.


Too little time: The notification stipulating RTO norms for school buses
was sent to schools by end of May, just two weeks before the institutes
were set to open. File pic

"The vehicle should not be more than 15 years old. A complete list of children travelling and their contact details and blood group should be available in the bus. Besides that, the vehicle should have a signage indicating its status as a school bus and should be painted yellow on the front and the rear side," he said.
Apart from this, availability of two fire extinguishers weighing five kilos each in the bus, a door on the right hand side of the vehicle for exit and parents right to access details regarding the bus drivers' experience were the other points discussed.