Days after four children were burnt alive in Punjab’s Sangrur when a mini-van transporting them caught fire, the Transport department on Monday started a drive to inspect the roadworthiness of school vans and buses.
Across the State, 2,654 buses and vans were checked in which 1,049 challans were issued for various violations. During the drive by joint teams of the Punjab police and the civil administrations of districts, 207 vehicles were impounded, according to a tweet from the official handle of the Chief Minister’s Office.
Chief Minister Amarinder Singh directed the officials to ensure that accidents like the school van in Longowal town of Sangrur district last week did not recur.
Capt. Amarinder also directed the district child protection officers of the Social Security department to keep a strict vigil on vehicles violating the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act and also the school managements using vehicles in bad condition.
Aam Aadmi Party MLA and Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Harpal Singh Cheema hit out at the Congress government for being insensitive to the safety of children travelling in private school buses.
Seeking dismissal of Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla, Mr. Cheema said it was unfortunate that the government had given a free hand to the transport mafia.
The AAP leader urged the State government to form a regulatory body to check the maintenance of vehicles, their fitness and roadworthiness.
