The traffic police on Friday called a meeting with the police, education department and school bus owners' association to take measures on safety in school buses. According to the education department, while most schools have formed a school bus transport committee according to the transport policy, 200 schools in the western suburbs are yet to do so.
Deepak Naik, secretary of the school bus owners association, said, "The traffic department has asked the school education department officials to again issue old circulars to all schools on safety measures to be followed in school buses."
Dr B K Upadhyay, joint commissioner of police (traffic), said, "It was a routine meeting where the school bus department has been asked to check whether school buses are following the safety measures mentioned in the 2011 circular issued by the education department to all schools. After the Peshawar attack, we have asked our traffic police to keep patrolling school areas in their jurisdiction."
Dnyaneshwar Junnarkar, assistant director, school education department, said, "Almost all schools of the south and north zones have formed school bus transport committees. But in the western suburbs, 200 schools are yet to do so."
Meanwhile the MNS' youth wing vice president Akhil Chitre has written a letter to western zone's additional commissioner of police to provide police security to schools. Chitre said, "We will be giving letter to commissioner of police for Mumbai tomorrow (Saturday)."
Transport policy
According to the transport policy, it is mandatory for every school to form a transport committee that will look into matters of safe transportation of school children, transportation fees and identification of bus stops. It will be headed by the principal and will have one representative of the Parent Teachers' Association (PTA), a traffic or police Inspector of the area, an inspector or assistant inspector of motor vehicles of the area, an education inspector, representative of bus contractor and representative of local authority. It is mandatory for the committee to meet at least once in three months before a semester begins. The committee will verify documents of vehicles like registration certificate, certificate of fitness, certificate of insurance, permit, and pollution under certificate, driving license, fire extinguisher and first aid kit.
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