Journalism of Courage
Despite various orders, conditions, bans and issuance of an advisory to parents, a majority of the school-bound auto-rickshaws continue to flout norms and ferry up to 10 children each. As per the norms, an auto-rickshaw can carry a maximum of five students below the age of 12.
Officials of the State Transport Authority (STA) claim that 20 to 25 auto-rickshaw drivers are challaned daily. On Tuesday, 40 auto-rickshaw drivers were challaned.
STA in-charge Amit Talwar said, “In collaboration with the Chandigarh Traffic Police, we are trying to ensure that the auto-rickshaws do not ferry more than five schoolchildren. We are challaning them on a daily basis.
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The auto-rickshaws need to follow the statuary norms and regulations as laid down by UT Administration and STA for the security of children. Challaning is not a solution, as most parents prefer autos due to their cheaper availability as compared to school buses.”
It was two years ago when the UT Administration, Director Public Instructions (Schools) and STA had directed the owners of auto-rickshaws to improve the safety features on their vehicles to ensure safety of children. They were asked to install an iron gate on one side (entry) and a grill on the other so that the children do not fall down in case of any untoward incident. STA had also directed that if the modifications were not done, their permits would be cancelled.
The STA officials said that they got complaints from few school principals regarding the overloaded auto- rickshaws outside their schools. The school heads said that they could not take any responsibility for the auto-rickshaws as they had no records of these vehicles.
President of the Independent Schools’ Association H S Mamik said, “If the administration can get GPS and CCTV cameras installed in school buses for the safety of children, can’t they make these auto-rickshaws safer or simply ban them? Parents should understand that auto-rickshaws are not safe at all.”
