Schools of the State found violating the directions of District Road Safety Committees (DRSC) might lose their affiliation. A letter jointly issued by the Transport department secretary Praveen Kumar Toppo and School Education and Literacy Department secretary AP Singh to all the deputy commissioners, district superintendents of education and district transport officers clearly states that if any school administration fails to follow the directions of the committee for thrice shall lose their affiliation.
The letter says that in case of first time violation, the school administration should be let off with a warning, while in second case of violation the school bus violating norms should be seized. In the third offence, the process of withdrawing affiliation from any of the boards the school is affiliated is should be commenced by the DC.
The State and district road safety committees were formed in Jharkhand on December 31, 2015 based on the guidelines of road safety committee of Supreme Court to help reduce road accidents.
Some of the major directions of the committee include proper security facilities in school buses, no overloading, verification of drivers and regular checking to ensure that they do not consume alcohol or any other intoxicants while driving among others.
The letter also directs the schools to spread awareness among the students as well as their parents about traffic rules and discourage students who do not have driving license from driving motorised vehicles. Singh also directed the schools to encourage the teachers and employees of the school to carry driving license and take action against those who do not possess a DL. Also, the letter calls for installation of CCTV cameras in the parking lots of the schools.
The letter directs all the schools to make parents aware about traffic rules during the parents-teachers meetings.
"The schools have also been told to take an undertaking from the guardians during time of admission that they will not permit their children to drive a motorised vehicle till they get a DL. We have told the schools that if they find any student driving without DL they have to be warned against it and if the offence is repeated the schools can think of rusticating the student," Toppo said.
The letter also directs all the schools to appoint a teacher as a nodal officer to look after the operations of school buses. The name and contact number of this nodal officer has to be submitted to the DTO and DSE.