Van Owner's nod to GLS sefty measures

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After schools, van owners pledge to adopt GLS’ plan that will ensure school vehicles adhere to guidelines set by the Gujarat High Court
By Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Saturday, December 13, 2008 (Ahmedabad Mirror)

The plan will be finalised on Dec 27 The Ahmedabad School Vardhy Association (ASVA), which has under its banner 4,000 vans and 6,000 autorickshaws that carry more than 1 lakh school children daily, has agreed to be a part of the Gujarat Law Society’s (GLS) plan to ensure kids’ safety on school vans.

The GLS executive vice-president and legal luminary, Sudhir Navanati, had proposed to institute a tripartite agreement for van owners, parents and schools to make sure school vans adhere to guidelines set by the Gujarat High Court in 2006 (GLS vows safe vans for kids, AM, December 9).

Nanavati will also focus on autorickshaws carrying school children once he finalises the school vans problem. On Thursday, the ASVA top brass held a two-hour meeting with Nanavati, in which it pledged complete co-operation and promised to implement every clause of the agreement (See box for GLS agreement).
AM reports on December 9 (top) and December 10The ASVA also said it would not restrict itself only to those schools which accept Nanavati’s proposal. Every van that is registered with the ASVA will comply with the guidelines set by the Gujarat HC. Around 3.5 lakh children in the city use school vans as their mode of transport to commute to and from schools.

The ASVA has been honest enough in its discussions with Nanavati that most of the van drivers flout norms.According to the association, there are only 1,500 school vans which have their papers in order. Most vans carry up to 18 kids. Rarely are van owners’ contact details displayed on the vehicles, and more often than not, the vehicles’ doors are kept open to accommodate maximum number of children, exposing them to on-coming traffic.

Now, there is a will to put things in order. Said Baldev Patel, vice-president, ASVA, “Following our meeting with Nanavati, in which we tried to understand his plan, we feel he has drawn up a fair proposal. Obviously, we don’t like to flout norms, and we are equally worried about the children. But it’s business for us, after all. Nanavati has called for a meeting with the parents of GLS students on December 27 to finalise the safe van plan.

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