149 School buses challaned and 15 impounded

Ludhiana: Additional Deputy Commissioner Mr Iqbal Singh Sandhu today informed that to ensure the safety and security of school children, a large scale checking of a total of 465 school buses was conducted in the district today, out of which 149 buses were challaned while 15 were impounded. He informed that the checking was carried out by all SDM’s, Regional Transport Authority and Police.
Mr Sandhu informed that the checking of school vehicles will be a routine exercise now as strict instructions have already been issued to the officials for effective implementation of Safe School Vahan scheme. He informed that departments were asked to submit a daily report in this regard.
He said that it has come to the notice that the school and educational institutions still do not follow the directions issued by the transport department under the safe school vahan scheme. That is why these instructions are issued.
Mr Iqbal Singh Sandhu said that the Commissioner of Police, Ludhiana, Ludhiana (Rural) and Khanna Police, the Secretary Regional Transport Authority and all the SDM's have already been told to ensure that all school buses/vehicles are checked daily and a report in this regard has to be submitted by 5 pm. District Education Officers have been instructed to constitute a sufficient number of teams to check on the various schools to see if they are following the guidelines of the Safe School Vahan scheme.
Similarly, the District Child Protection Officer has also been assigned the duty to inspect the vehicles of different schools daily and send the report to the district administration for compliance with the said scheme. Mr Sandhu has issued a strict directive to the concerned authorities and school administrators, stating that whichever school does not implement the scheme in its true sense, strict legal action will be taken on those who are neglected in this direction.