Patna: In a major step aimed at strengthening the safety of schoolchildren, the state govt has decided to bring all private school vehicles under strict online monitoring. The transport department will launch a dedicated portal for the purpose later this month. Once the portal goes live, all private schools will have to register themselves and upload complete details of their vehicles and drivers, officials said.Transport department secretary Raj Kumar said, “The main objective of the govt is to strengthen the safety of schoolchildren. Through the portal, school vehicles will be monitored online. This will help keep track of vehicle condition, driver details and compliance with safety norms.”The entire exercise will be carried out under the supervision of traffic SPs and district transport officers (DTOs) across the state. The department will issue detailed guidelines to all districts after the portal is launched.Schools will have to furnish details of buses, minibuses and other vehicles, along with fitness certificates, insurance papers and other required documents. “If the fitness or insurance of any vehicle expires, the Transport Department will get an instant alert. The concerned school will then be notified to take action,” Raj Kumar said.The transport department is also working on linking all school vehicles with a GPS-based tracking system, enabling authorities to monitor their location and speed in real time. This will make it easier to act against those violating traffic rules or overspeeding.Officials said vehicles belonging to medical and engineering colleges would also be brought under the portal in the future.The transport department already monitors passenger buses and taxis through a tracking system. At present, over 27,000 buses and around 28,000 taxis across Bihar are linked to it.By bringing school vehicles under the same network, the govt hopes to make travel safer for children. Officials said the digital system would help prevent accidents and ensure that only roadworthy vehicles driven by trained drivers are used to transport students.
