HYDERABAD: The managements of schools which do not seek fitness certificates for their buses to ply on roads can no longer get away by paying fine for the violation as a decision has been taken to book criminal cases against such managements for negligence.
Just about half of all school buses in the state, 50.61 pc to be precide, have been issued fitness certificate, ie 10,931 out of 21,598 school buses. In some districts, such as Karimnagar, over 75 pc school buses do not have the fitness certificate. In the past, whenever buses without fitness certificate were seized, they were released after collecting a fine ranging up to ` 2,000. The fee for getting the FC is ` 560 per annum for a 50-seater bus and ` 460 for a 40-seater bus.
State transport department officials will conduct fitness check of school buses from Thursday and take action against those evading certification. Important parameters such as the condition of brakes, steering, fire extinguisher nd medical kit are checked before the certificate is issued by the State Road Transport Authority (RTA). Apart from seizing the buses, the driving licence of the drivers will be suspended for three months, Educational Institute Bus permit will be cancelled and cases of criminal negligence will be registered against the managementsin cases of violation as per a decision taken by commissioner of transpor t Sandeep Kumar Sultania.
“We will inspect school buses with children on board across the state and take action in case of non-adherence. Show-cause notices will be issued to the managements after seizing their buses,” said T Raghunath, joint transport commissioner of Hyderabad. Officials said that some of the vehicles, for which FC was not applied, might be in garage for repairs or owners might have sold the vehicles.
Violators,beware!