Over the next three years, autorickshaws ferrying children to school and back will be phased out; schools will be asked to tie up with government transport agencies or arrange for their own buses for transporting their students.
These clauses are part of the government’s state school bus policy that will be in force from next week.
The buses will stop only at specified points near a school and children’s homes; abrupt halts involve the risk of an accident, the government said. Other clauses involve a colour code, fire safety measures and a thorough head count of students being transported in any bus.
The government began plans for a comprehensive policy on school buses after an accident last August, when three schoolchildren died and 20 were injured when their school bus caught fire in Navi Mumbai.
“We will ensure that autorickshaws ferrying students to school are phased out in three years. The policy entails that students should be travelling only in a bus or a large vehicle,” Minister for Transport Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil said.
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