Cuttack, Jan. 28: In an unexpected U-turn, the state government has relaxed norms for transportation of schoolchildren, mostly in auto rickshaws and other small vehicles, in the city.

In November last year, the state transport department had announced a complete ban on transportation of schoolchildren in autorickshaws and other small vehicles under the new Transport Policy for Transportation of School Children, 2016.

However, following a high-level meeting of the traffic management committee yesterday, regional transport officer of Cuttack Dipti Ranjan Patra said the children could from now be transported in autorickshaws but with certain riders.

He said to transport schoolchildren, the autorickshaws will have to follow certain safety norms, including installation of protection grilles and global position system. "The government was forced to relax norms following persistent demands by some parents' associations. However, the school authorities will not be allowed to engage autorickshaws for transportation of children to school under any circumstances," he said.

The move to allow autorickshaws to carry schoolchildren poses a serious threat to their lives. But another highly-placed source in the government said they had to bow down to the pressures of not only the parents who were more keen to ensure their convenience than their wards' safety, but also school authorities and various autorickshaw unions.

However, Patra remained tight-lipped when asked if any other lobbies were working behind this decision apart from parents.

According to Patra, parents can depend on autorickshaws to drop their children to school at their own risk. But even in such case, the guardians would have to submit in writing details, such as the autorickshaw's registration number, the name and contact details of the driver and photocopies of all papers related to the vehicle. The parents would also have to give an undertaking that the documents of the concerned vehicle were up to date and have been verified by them and that the school authorities could not be held responsible for any untoward incident.

"We suspect it to be a handiwork of strong lobbies of school authorities and autorickshaw unions. But this move poses great risks for the lives of the schoolchildren," said Badambadi resident Kishore Pradhan.