The government is finally steering a move to make schoolbuses safer. Alarmed at the growing number of accidents involving schoolbuses without proper permits, the transport department has framed a new set of rules for vehicles carrying students.

By the new rules, no bus will be allowed to ferry children to and from school without the approval of the institution concerned. It has been made mandatory for schoolbus-owners to obtain a special permit from the public vehicles department (PVD). The permit will now be issued only after an approval from the school in question.

“If the school authorities do not wish to take responsibility for the bus, the permit will not be issued. No schoolbus will be allowed to ply without a permit,’’ stressed PVD director H. Mohan. The permits will be issued from February, he added.

Vehicles for ferrying students must be painted deep blue with a white border running along the middle. The name, address and telephone number of the school should be written in bold letters, also in white, on both sides of the bus.

Each bus will have to ferry students as per the seating capacity and no standing room would be allowed. And a school bus will not be used for any other purpose.

Transport department officials said a circular to this effect will be issued soon to school authorities, the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education and other secondary boards.

The move comes in the wake of several accidents caused by “illegal” vehicles carrying school students. The crash count over the past few years reads:

36 in 2001

28 in 2002       

32 in 2003       

Seven in 2004 (till January 26).

Senior transport department representatives have met officials from the traffic department and decided to slam the brakes on such schoolbuses.

“Barring a few big ones, most schools do not have their own buses. So, some private vehicles double as schoolbuses. Such vehicles can often be seen parked outside schools with a sticker bearing the institution’s name,” said the PVD director.

Neither do these buses have permits nor are they authorised by the school authorities. “Whenever an accident occurs, the school authorities deny responsibility, saying the buses were plying under some arrangement reached between the vehicle operators and guardians. We want to stop all that,’’ announced Mohan.

A ban on cycle vans carrying schoolchildren within city limits is also being discussed.