Government gets report on school vehicles

The State Transport Department on Thursday submitted the report of a six-member committee constituted to frame a rule fixing the criteria and conditions for running of vehicles used by educational institutions to Home Secretary R Rajagopal on Thursday.

The State government will examine the recommendations made by the committee  in the coming days and submit the final report comprising tough rules for operating vehicles used by the educational institutions to the Madras High Court on August 9.

On July 26, the First Bench of the Madras High Court, comprising Chief Justice MY Eqbal and Justice TS Sivagnanam, took suo motu cognizance of reports on the accident resulting in the death of Shruthi, a student of Class II in a Chennai school, who was run over by a school bus after she slipped through a gaping hole on the vehicle’s floor.

The Madras High Court had said that a permanent solution should to be found to save the lives of school-going kids and directed the State government to come up with a rule fixing the criteria and conditions for running of school buses and posted the matter for further hearing on August 9.

The Transport Department finalised its recommendations on August 1 after holding detailed discussions with the School Education Department and the Police Department.