A devastating accident in Haryana’s Mahendragarh involving a school bus that killed six students returning home from school today raised questions about the safety of the buses and a debate over who should be held responsible. Parents and locals are also asking why the school remained open on Eid, a public holiday.
Six children died and over 20 were injured when the school bus rammed a tree and overturned this morning. The driver was reportedly drunk, the police said.
The bus, whose fitness certificate had expired in 2018, belonged to GL Public School. A state road transport official has been suspended for failing to control vehicles running without proper valid documents.
State Education Minister Seema Trikha said an inquiry is being conducted to find out why the school was functioning on a holiday. She reiterated that the school should have been shut today and that a show-cause notice has been served.
“The school should not have been open today. A show-cause notice has been issued and apart from that, we have taken self-affidavits from the private schools. The schools will have to provide an affidavit of the transport vehicles stating that they function according to the transport rules,” she said.
Asked who bears the responsibility for such a tragedy, the minister said the schools and the bus owners will be held accountable along with the driver.
“If (school bus) drivers are found to be drunk, schools will be held responsible. In such cases, FIRs will be filed against the driver, the school’s principal, and the bus owner.”
