The death of a six-year-old in a mishap involving a school bus in Mumbai has brought the issue of safety of commuting schoolchildren to the fore again. Although, the state government has passed a resolution about school transport safety, the government’s diktat has remained only on paper in Pune.
Cramming children in school transport vehicles and ferrying them in hazardous conditions continues unabated in city and transport authorities have taken action against only 40 vehicles in the last year.
The issue of lack of safety measures in school buses had become a focal point in Pune after a three-and-a-half-year-old junior KG student Shiven Santosh Gupta of Pawar Public School in Amanora Park died after falling from a school bus on March 16, 2011. After the incident, there was a strong demand from various organisations for strict norms for school transport
. The state government also had to react to the strong demands and on March 22, the government issued a government resolution (GR) specifying the norms about school buses and the government had assured that strict implementation of these norms will be done all over the state.
According to norms, the district school bus safety committee was formed. However, it took three months for the committee to hold its first meeting which highlighted the lack of seriousness on
the issue.
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