School bus owners hail HC order,await decision

While the HC order has still not been communicated to the Regional Transport Office,Pune,officials are of the view that from this week onwards they will take congnisance of the court order and act accordingly.

Regional Transport Officer Arun Yeola said,“Till now we were allowed to renew permits and passing certificates only on the basis of the new regulations as per the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles (School Bus Regulations) Act,2011 and an addition to it brought out later in November 2011. We have been turning down applications of transporters whose buses don’t comply with them. We are yet to look at the exact verdict but will comply by taking due cognisance of the HC verdict now.”

The court order says that those permits and passing certificates that are due for renewal in the next one month will be extended till a final set of norms is prepared on the school transportation service. Earlier,a state government committee was formed comprising senior state transport department officials and representatives of transporters to reach a solution. The committee is expected to come up with the finalised norms by May 15.

Baba Shinde,president,Maharahstra State Private School bus Owners Association,said,“We are not completely against the norms. For issues like a 10kg fire extinguisher,we have said that instead of one 10kg cylinder,we need to have two five kg ones,with one being placed near the driver’s seat and one near the rear portion of the bus. Till now there were no specifications on fire extinguishers,just having one on the bus would give us a permit.”

Shinde further added that over the last few months with strikes and public interest litigations (PILs) going on and no decisions being reached,over 500-600 school buses running on contract are still awaiting the annual permits and passing certificates.

“While we are not hoping that we should still go on with the old norms,this HC order is a huge relief for us as we can hope that even our pleas will be heard. For those vehicle owners whose permits were ending this month,the permission to go on for another month is going to be of great importance,” he said.

Gulamali Bhaldar,from PCMC Vidyarthi Vahtuk Sangathna said,“The verdict is indeed a welcome sign for us. But a decision need to be taken soon as schools reopen on June 15. So we need some time if such a large number of modifications are to be made on the buses.”