Punjab Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar, on Saturday, asked all the school managements of the state to pay tax arrears of school buses by August 5, stressing that strict action will be taken against the violators after the stipulated time given under Amnesty scheme by the state government.During a meeting with various school owners and managements here, S. Bhullar sought fulsome cooperation for the proper implementation of 'Safe School Vahan Scheme' and made it clear that no laxity would be tolerated with the safety of students, adding that all the shortcomings in the school buses should be rectified by August 31 to ensure the safety of the students.
"School management would be fully responsible for any untoward incident happened due to lack of required equipment as per the rules in the buses", said the Minister.The Minister further added, "All the Deputy Commissioners and SSPs are explicitly instructed to keep check on school vehicles time to time and confiscate those violating the rules.S. Laljit Singh Bhullar also urged the parents to immediately inform the concerned authorities in case of violation of rules in school vehicles such as lack of fire extinguisher, first-aid kit, speed governor, emergency window, proper arrangements for keeping school bags, permit, proper seating for children etc. The name and phone number of the school must be written on the buses, he further added.