Government apathy ails school bus policy

A few months back, the state decided to frame rules to regulate school buses in the state, following incidents of children dying in bus fires.

However, the process has been dogged by a number of issues that smack of government apathy, even as thousands of children across the state continue to travel to and from school in dangerous conditions.

The long-pending draft notification for the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles (Regulations for School Buses), Rules, 2010, was released only on September 28 though the state cabinet had cleared the policy in June. It was then put up for feedback from the public, October 30 being the last date, before the final government resolution (GR) was issued.

Publicity for the draft notification was so poor that it received no responses from any quarters.

Moreover, it has also emerged that the government unilaterally modified rules without taking into confidence the committee that was formed to prepare the rules. Indrani Malkani, an activist who was on the committee appointed to frame the rules, has come down heavily on the state government for this.

Surprisingly, she was unable to access a copy of the draft notification. It was only after DNA managed to get one and referred it to her that she realised the government had not printed the rules that were deliberated upon and finalised in the meetings.

She then wrote to Sangeetrao, former principal secretary, transport. However, she has not received any response yet.

The government has chan-ged the descriptive meaning of a school bus in the draft notification. It reads: “School bus shall include four-wheeled light motor vehicle having registered seating capacity up to 12.” Malkani said what was decided was not ‘up to’ but ‘at least’.

She said: “In order to make a school bus operation economical, the minimum number of children in a bus has to be 12. Other features, like safety rods and provisions for keeping school bags, will not be possible unless the vehicle has a seating capacity of 12-plus. A car cannot be called a school bus. The vehicle has to be structured like a bus.”

Another problematic area is the number of children allowed in a bus. The draft says that the number “shall be determined as per provisions of rule 106 of the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989.”

Malkani said one cannot expect a school principal to know rule 106 of the MMVR. This was why the committee had decided upon a clearer description.

However, the most serious discrepancy in the draft rules is rule number 12, which empowers the government to grant exemption from any of the conditions. According to Malkani, such exemptions will compromise the safety and security of children.

Adding to the concerns is the fact that school bus operators will require at least half a year to upgrade their fleets of buses to suit the new draft rules, president of the School Bus Owners’ Association (SBOA) Anil Garg told DNA.

DNA tried to seek comments from Sangeetrao and transport minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil. But they remained unresponsive.