"Will my child be safe; Is She OK?"
These anxious questions occupy the mind of each parent at some point during the day when the children are away from home. Whether the child is of a construction worker or of a politician, whether he is the son of a wealthy business man or of a daily wager..each parent worries about his child's well being.
Parents try their best to create a safe environment at home and select schools that provide security. But what about the time when the kids are travelling to and from school? Are they secure then?
The recent on going incidents of child abuse in school buses are on the rise and often parents find themselves helpless to do anything beyond a point. They rely completely on the bus driver and school management for the safety of their kids. But merely having trust is enough??? Can't something be done?
As they say "God cannot reach everywhere..therefore he created parents" and I feel -" Parents [obviously] can't be present everywhere ..hence we have to create strict policies and laws to safeguard our children"
Example of one such policy is {as I call it}- 'The School Bus Policy'.
Our Advisory board member Mrs. Indrani Malkani has created this policy and worked endlessly for its implementation..She shares inputs about the policy and its scope...over to her
 |
| Mrs. Indrani Malkani looks at the school kids happily boarding the school bus. |
"The Policy for Safe and Co-ordinated Transport of School Children, is based fully on my Model School Bus Service, and was notified vide a GR, dated 22nd March 2011 through the Transport/Home Department. Its implementation is by two Departments, the RTO and the Education Department. The principal document to be followed by the schools to implement the Policy, is required to be circulated to schools by the Education Department.
The
role of the School is that of a facilitator between the Student Body/ Parents
and the School Bus Operators.
As
per the Policy the school must ensure that all children use the School Bus
service on a daily basis, to and from school. Those children who live near the
school (walking distance), use public transport, or reside in areas where the
school bus service is unavailable, maybe exempted. Even in such cases, no child
would be permitted to enter the approach roads of the school by car.
The
Traffic Police has to depute personnel to ensure that cars do not park around
the schools and the approach roads are kept free for school buses. Appropriate signage
should be displayed to allow the school buses to park near the school, so that
the departure of the buses can be quick.
Since
no school nor a single operator will have adequate number of buses to cater to
the full load of children in a school, multiple bus operators are required to
be engaged by the school and they would all be bound by a Common Standard
Agreement.
Salient
features of the Common Standard Agreement -CSA:
- The CSA is signed
between the school representing the Student Body and the Bus Operators, to
have a validity of one year and renewable by mutual consent.
- Times and
punctuality being of essence.
- Compensation by way
of fees.
- Insurance cover to
be obtained by the Contractor and kept valid during currency of the
Agreement.
- Service conditions
along with penalties and deposits.
- Safety and proper
upkeep of the buses.
- Compliance with GPS
technology as approved.
- Code of conduct for
staff operating and manning the buses.
- Emergency and backup
services.
- Special conditions
arising.
- Confidentiality of
Agreement.
- Arbitration and
Jurisdiction.
- Force Majeure'
- Annexures covering
fee structure etc.
- Amendments to the
Agreement as may become necessary from time to time.
 |
| Indrani Malkani was featured in Mumbai Heroes series for her work on School Bus Policy |
The work has not
yet ended; even though the Policy has become operational I am determined to see
that the Policy is implemented correctly."
Indrani
Malkani#
Trustee
V
Citizens Action Network
Hence, I urge you to strengthen our hands and give us support to help in making this policy FULLY operational and make sure it is implemented in all schools across the state.
Can we really afford to gamble with the security of our children?
The choice is yours...
-Richa S*
#Indrani is a member State Government
Committee for Safe Transportation of School Children &
Member Mumbai
District Committee for Implementation of the School Bus Safety Policy
*The author is the team member of Citizens Association for Child Rights a non-profit working in low-income schools of Mumbai,India.
