Indore: The Madhya Pradesh High Court has issued several guidelines for school buses operating in the state, mandating them to be fitted with GPS system and CCTV cameras so that they can be tracked by children’s parents through mobile phones.
Prohibiting the use of school buses that are more than 12 years old and not employing drivers that have been fined for offences like over speeding and drunken driving are some other guidelines issued by the Indore bench of the high court on Wednesday.
The high court gave these directions while disposing of a PIL in connection with the death of four children after a Delhi Public School (DPS) bus jumped over and crossed a road divider in 2018 here.
“There is no specific provision for registration, permit and special conditions for school buses,” a division bench of Justices Vivek Rusia and Binod Kumar Dwivedi said.
“Therefore, till the State Government makes provisions by way of amendments in the Madhya Pradesh Motor Vehicles Rules, 1994, this Court in exercise of powers conferred under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, for the safety of children travelling in the buses belonging to the private and Government educational institutions, coaching centres, sports academy and local bodies, etc, we deem it appropriate to frame the guidelines,” it said.
“No school bus shall be more than 12 years old. The school buses shall operate within the prescribed speed limit. Each bus shall be fitted with a speed governor,” the court observed.
“The school buses shall be operated by drivers who have held permanent driving licenses and have a minimum of five years of experience in driving heavy vehicles,” the court said.
Drivers who have been challaned (fined) on more than two occasions in one year for offences like violating the lane system violating signal lights, should not be employed, the order read.
“A driver who has been fined even once for the offence of over speeding, drunken driving and dangerous driving shall not be employed. An affidavit to this effect shall be obtained by the educational institution from the driver of the vehicle,” the court said.
On January 5, 2018, a speeding DPS bus jumped over the divider of the bypass road in the Kanadia area of Indore, and entered the other side lane before colliding with a truck coming from the opposite direction. The bus driver and four school children aged between six and 13 years were killed in the accident.
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