Latest news with #MotorVehiclesdepartment
The Hindu
6 days ago
- Automotive
- The Hindu
Fitness certificates issued to nearly 200 school buses in Kozhikode city
The Motor Vehicles department (MVD) has completed the fitness check of 190 school buses in Kozhikode city limits ahead of the reopening of schools. Fitness certificates were rejected for around 20 vehicles which were not found fitted with Geographical Positioning System (GPS) under the fresh safety guidelines. MVD officials said the certificates were granted only after inspecting several factors including the condition of seating, tyres, speed governors, and emergency exits. Re-inspection of the buses that were not given fitness certificates would be held on Saturday, they added. The fitness check was launched in Kozhikode district after offering a one-day mandatory training session for all educational institution vehicle drivers. Instructions had already been issued to school managements about the training session and the decision to keep untrained drivers away from the job in the new academic year. MVD officials said the directive to fix surveillance cameras in school buses would be implemented from September. School managements would be given time till the last week of August to make the necessary arrangements as per the order issued by Transport Minister K.B. Ganesh Kumar. Appointment of door attenders, emergency firefighting equipment and a register carrying the details of all travellers would be made mandatory from the new academic year. All schools would be responsible for appointing a teacher separately to take care of the school bus services and the related safety issues. Police sources said inspections to track speed limit violations and footboard journeys, and violation of the permitted seating capacity would be intensified to enforce safety norms. Combined flash inspections with the support of MVD squads would be carried out in all parts of the district, they added.
The Hindu
15-05-2025
- Automotive
- The Hindu
Students' safety: MVD, police to put in place stringent norms for drivers
To enhance the safety of students travelling in educational institution buses, the Motor Vehicles department (MVD) and the police have decided to put in place stringent norms for school bus drivers in Kozhikode. Only those who complete the one-day training programme of the MVD on safe driving, which was officially launched here on Wednesday, will be permitted to drive educational institution vehicles from the next academic year. Drivers who undergo training will be issued a certificate, which has to be shown to enforcement squads during flash vehicle checks as part of heightened safety measures. Training will be given after verification of the licence. Police clearance certificates will also be made mandatory in case the drivers have a history of involvement in traffic rule violations. According to MVD officials, the fitness check of educational institution vehicles, a mandatory exercise carried out every year, will be completed by the end of May. Automated facilities will also be used to complete the process. By August, CCTV cameras will also be made mandatory for all educational institution vehicles, they said. Traffic police officials said the fitness check was expected to cover over 1,000 school buses in Kozhikode city alone. They made it clear that safety norms would be equally applicable to drivers working for private coaching centres. For vehicles other than school buses, the stickers issued after police checking will be mandatory to operate pick-and-drop services. Mobile enforcement squads of the police and the MVD will jointly conduct checking to expose safety rule violations, they affirmed. Meanwhile, the proposal to enable the GPS tracking system in school buses is still hanging in the balance due to the alleged lack of cooperation on the part of various school managements. Now, the GPS system is functional only in very few private institution buses in Kozhikode. The MVD's Vidhya Vahan mobile application designed for the purpose also remain underutilised. Similarly, the launch of radio frequency identification and detection (RFID) cards for students, which was planned several years ago to track the entry and exit of students in school buses, has also not been implemented. Sources in the MVD and the police said technical issues related to the setting up of an exclusive server continued to be a major hurdle to its implementation.
The Hindu
14-05-2025
- The Hindu
Elaborate arrangements for school reopening in Kerala
The General Education department is making elaborate arrangements for the reopening of schools in Kerala on June 2 with focus on school and student safety, Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty has said. At a press conference here on Wednesday, the Minister said fitness certificate for school buildings from the local self-government concerned was mandatory. School premises should be cleaned up with the support of parent-teacher associations, local self-government institutions, voluntary organisations or alumni to ensure safety and avoid any hazardous or risky situations. Schools should also ensure that their environment is conducive to studies by making them attractive. Travel safety Schools should ensure that students can travel safely from home to school and back. They should review precautions to ensure student safety when the children take public transport, school bus, or use private vehicles or water transport for travel, or cross road or railway lines. The Minister said strict action would be taken if private buses did not allow students to board or did not halt at bus stops. Buses should stop for stipulated times at bus stops so that students get adequate time to board or get off the vehicles. If students were found travelling on footboard of buses, it should be brought to the attention of the authorities and action should be taken. The guidelines of the Motor Vehicles department on the maximum number of students allowed on school buses and the fitness of the vehicle should be observed strictly. Steps should also be taken to hold discussions with authorities or associations concerned to ensure guidelines for safe travel on autorickshaws, taxis, vans, and private buses were being followed. Behaviour of employees on buses used by students should be analysed and police clearance certificate taken for them. Authorities should ensure curbs on heavy vehicles, especially goods vehicles, during the students' commuting time. The Minister said classes on substance abuse, vehicle use, preventing violence, personal hygiene, clean surroundings, lack of emotional control, damaging public property, legal awareness, health check-ups, mobile phone addiction, and social media addiction would be taken for two weeks from June 2 and for one week from July 18. Mental health training A four-day training would be held for Souhruda club coordinators in 1,680 government and aided higher secondary schools to improve students' mental health. Directions have been given to improve mentoring in schools, maintain constant contact with students, and maintain a diary on it. Inauguration of awareness programme against suicides and a programme on exam fear would be launched at the State-level Pravesanolsavam in Alappuzha. Hygiene of school kitchens and equipment and utensils used there should be ensured. It should be ensured that grains whose expiry period is over and other such provisions were not used. Health cards for cooking staff were a must. Midday meals should be given the day schools reopened, the Minister said.
