Plea in Madras HC to act against schools overloading vehicles, Legal News, ET LegalWorld – Legal Firms

MADURAI: Madras high court on Friday sought response from the state government on a plea to take action against private schools which transport students more than the permitted numbers in school buses and autorickshaws. A division bench of Justices R Mahadevan and J Sathya Narayana Prasad sought response while hearing a public interest litigation petition filed by P Suyambulingam, a resident of Kanyakumari.

The petitioner stated that the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicles (Regulation and Control of School Buses) Special Rules 2012 were framed to regulate school buses for the welfare of students. The rules require schools to paint their buses in yellow and mention the name of the institution and other details on the vehicle. Speed controllers have to be installed, and there should be an assistant with conductor licence in the vehicle and a lady assistant in buses in which girls travel. But a majority of the schools don’t follow these norms.

He said that private schools use hired vehicles that do not have the name of the school and other details to ferry students. These vehicles carry double the number of students than the permitted level risking the lives of students. Some schools use autorickshaws that transport more than 10 students in an unhygienic and dangerous manner. There is no proper safety arrangement in the vehicles due to which accidents are common, said the petitioner.

Though this court had passed a series of directions in 2019 with regard to installing CCTV cameras and GPS devices in the vehicles, these were not complied with by many schools. He said his representation to the authorities for strict implementation of the 2012 special rules, and the earlier directions of this court are yet to be considered. Hence he moved HC Madurai bench seeking actions against the erring schools. The case was adjourned to a further date for hearing.