20 RYAN SCHOOL BUSES AMONG 345 IMPOUNDED BY DELHI GOVT

NEW DELHI: At least 345 school buses, including 20 of Ryan International Group of Institutions, have been impounded by the Delhi government after it began a drive against errant school vehicles.

The drive was launched days after a seven-year-old boy in Gurgaon’s Ryan International School was murdered by a bus conductor and a five-year-old girl was raped at her school in Shahdara.

The Delhi government said on Friday that it found glaring violations in school vehicles.

“Some drivers were not carrying PSV (public service vehicle) badges and were not verified by the police. In other buses, we found that conductors were missing. Some which had conductors did not have licence,” said a transport department official, which is carrying out the drive with 20 enforcement teams.

As per the rules, the conductor of a school bus requires a licence and must be 10th pass. Besides buses, cabs and vans carrying school children have also been impounded by the enforcement teams.

Till July, 900 vans were impounded and close to 2,000 fined for flouting permit norms as part the drive.

Transport department officials said over 10,000 private buses and cabs are hired for ferrying school children in the city.

The Delhi government, earlier this week, had formed a high-level committee to look into safety aspects, including transportation of children at schools.

“There will be no compromise with safety and security of children and more stringent measures will be taken in future,” a government official said.

The high-level committee of the government, headed by the director of its Directorate of Education (DoE), has proposed amendments in the School Cab Policy, 2007, to make schools answerable for vehicles ferrying students.