Govt cracks whip,schools told to pick from 10,000 bus conductors

If schools want to engage their own employees,he said,the department would “liberally” grant conductor licences to those who meet the basic qualification after a three-month training.

According to the existing norms,a person applying for conductor licence must “know the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act and Rules”.

Garg,however,made it clear that the schools would be given two months to train the conductors. “No conductor will be prosecuted till September 30 for not possessing a licence,” he said.

The Delhi government on Wednesday released a set of rules,making it mandatory for schools to employ trained bus conductors for school buses,providing details of students on each bus route and mapping the routes the buses take. The order created a flutter,with schools questioning the availability of “licenced conductors”.

The government had said that strong action would be taken against school managements and bus operators if they were found violating the Supreme Court guidelines on school buses.

Objecting to the government’s decision and arguing that licenced conductors should be restricted to DTC buses,the schools said they usually send peons and other employees on their school buses.

The schools also opposed the directive to provide “personal information” of students because it might compromise a student’s safety. “We don’t know who all may have access to that information,” Springdales School principal Ameeta M Wattal said.

Bal Bharati School principal

L V Sehgal,who is also the chairperson of the National Progressive Schools Conference,said the school was aware of Supreme Court guidelines on schoolbuses and,hence,have installed speed governors and other safety equipment in the buses.

“But why does the government want us to submit route plans of our buses to the Traffic department? This is not clear,” Sehgal said.