In a bid to curb the rising number of road accidents involving school transport, the Punjab School Education and Transport Departments, with the assistance of the district police, have launched a rigorous enforcement campaign under the "Safe School Vahan Scheme".
Under the revised regulations, school heads will now be held directly responsible for the safe transportation of their students. To oversee compliance, the District Education Officer (DEO) has been designated as the nodal officer. Working alongside the district police and the transport department, the DEO will closely monitor safety standards and the roadworthiness of all operational school buses.
The policy shift follows a surprise inspection conducted by Regional Transport Officer (RTO) Satvinder Singh and his team in Moga after persistent complaints of inadequate safety measures and severe overcrowding. During the inspection, officials stopped several private school buses.
They uncovered multiple safety violations and missing mandatory documentation, including fitness certificates, non-functional CCTV cameras and inadequate safety equipment. A large number of vehicles were also found carrying students well beyond their registered seating capacity.
Confronted with the violations, some school principals claimed their institutions had "nothing to do" with privately operated school buses. However, RTO Satvinder Singh took a firm stance, issuing on-the-spot challans and warning that strict legal action would be taken against anyone failing to comply with government safety guidelines.
Officials said the vast majority of school transport accidents stem from poor vehicle maintenance, unsafe structural modifications, including bus body fabrication, and inadequate driving skills.
Across towns and cities, overcrowded auto-rickshaws, vans and manual rickshaws packed "like sardines" remain a common and dangerous sight during school opening and closing hours. Authorities have announced that all such dilapidated or severely overloaded vehicles will be progressively declared unfit for the road.
To eliminate these hazards, the transport department has reiterated a series of mandatory safety measures that all school buses must meet:
Every school bus must be fitted with a speed-limiting device restricting the maximum speed to 40 km/h.
Drivers must hold a heavy vehicle driving licence and have at least five years' experience. Any driver who accumulates two traffic challans will be barred from operating a school bus. Drivers must also undergo regular medical examinations.
Buses must be painted standard yellow and display the school's name and official contact numbers prominently.
First-aid boxes, CCTV cameras and GPS tracking systems are mandatory.
Vehicles must be equipped with a retractable entry step, safety storage racks beneath seats for school bags, and a physical "Stop Signal Arm" to alert motorists when children are boarding or alighting.
With the RTO actively issuing penalties and the DEO assuming oversight responsibility, educational institutions can no longer distance themselves from transport safety. Stringent inspections will continue across the state to ensure that no child's life is put at risk during the daily journey to and from school, the RTO said.