TG govt puts rider on fitness certificate to school buses

Hyderabad: The Telangana government will provide fitness certificates to the vehicles of educational institutions that promote road safety awareness in schools and colleges.

With the academic year starting, vehicles are lining up before the RTA offices, and Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, who reviewed the department on Tuesday, advised the officials to give fitness certificates only if there are special arrangements to create road safety awareness in all schools and colleges.

The officials were advised to check every school bus to ensure that it was fit enough to enter the road. The officials of the transport department have suggested organising awareness meetings with the influential people in the district on road safety. He said that these programmes should be done in schools and colleges for a week.

The officials have proposed to the Minister that ensuring every student has a basic understanding of road safety is essential. They suggested that if each school management updates their school bus app with details such as driver information, cleaner availability, and bus schedules, it could help prevent accidents by providing parents with comprehensive information. The Minister told the officials that if the enforcement of the check posts at the State borders is strengthened, income can be increased without the possibility of corruption. The Minister asked the officials of different districts who performed poorly in the collection of quarterly tax to improve their performance and congratulated the district officials who collected 100 per cent tax.

With some of the officials skipping the meeting, the senior officials were asked to issue notices to the officials who did not attend the meeting and seek an explanation. Prabhakar said that the meeting was arranged in DTC, and the officials should act soberly and enhance the respect of the Transport department. He pledged to consult with the Chief Minister regarding conducting a land search to acquire suitable properties for relocating the transport department offices, which are currently operating in privately owned buildings. This initiative aims to address the issue of dependency on private accommodations for office spaces.