Safety is important
Road safety in Jammu & Kashmir has long been a ledger of half-measures. New signage here, a speed-breaker there, and yet the fatalities pile up. But one corner of this crisis is uniquely unforgivable: the daily gamble lakhs of schoolchildren take just to reach their classrooms.
Notably, the Regional Transport Office’s recent crackdown has ripped the curtain off what parents already knew. Surprise checks across school routes found van after van packed far beyond capacity.
Children perched on gear covers, kneeling near sliding doors, three to a seat meant for one. No seatbelts, no first-aid kits, no fire extinguishers. In plain terms: tin boxes on wheels, ferrying Kashmir’s future with zero margin for error.
This is not negligence by accident. It is negligence by design. Van and bus operators cut private deals with parents, bypassing school managements that wash their hands of responsibility once the bell rings.
School managements, in turn, outsource transport without audits, contracts, or safety clauses. The RTO officials looked away for years. The result is a shadow transport network that answers to no one – until a van overturns or a bus skids.
The law is not the problem. Enforcement is. The J&K Motor Vehicles Rules mandate a permit, fixed seating capacity, a qualified attendant, speed governors, GPS, and emergency exits for school transport.
Notably, the Supreme Court’s 1997 guidelines on school buses are still binding. Yet the RTO drive found “almost all” vans in violation. That means the system only works when cameras are rolling.
Safety cannot be a surprise inspection; it must be the baseline. Three things must change now, not after the next tragedy. The schools must be legally liable. If a school logo is on the ID card, the school shares liability for how that child gets home.
Every institution must empanel only RTO-cleared operators, publish vehicle numbers and driver details, and appoint a transport in-charge who signs off on daily compliance.
Outsourcing is not outsourcing of accountability. The overcrowding economy needs to end. Parents choose crammed vans because they are cheaper. The state must break that trade-off.
Notably, when profit depends on safety, safety happens. The parents too need to quite clear on this aspect. Safety of the children has to be a priority, rest other things can be sorted out.
The schools too need to take responsibility and make the drivers accountable and answerable. Passing the buck always cannot be an option. Things need to change as the future and well being of our future generations is at stake.
