TRANSPORT COMMITTEE MEETING WEDNESDAY 24^th APRIL, 2024 at 10:00 AM

Date: 24th April 2024
Time: 10:00 am to 11:00 am
Venue: Board Room, PICT Model School

Attendees:

Agenda:

1. Review the status of transport safety at PICT Model School.
2. Review of updates in transport rules from the RTO office.
3. Exchange ideas and share information to strengthen our transport service.
4. Any other point with the consent of the members.

Welcoming the Members of the Meeting:

Dr. Pampa Chaudhuri, the Director Principal, welcomed all the members to the Transport Committee Meeting of 2024-2025. Mr. Vishal Sawant introduced the Director Principal, Principal and Foundation Head to the members present at the meeting. Mr. Vishal also introduced the other members present. Dr. Pampa Chaudhuri, Director Principal, initiated the meeting by stating the importance of the Transport Committee meeting for the safety of all stakeholders. She then presented the agenda to the members.

Review the status of transport safety at PICT Model School.

The following protocols and preparedness measures were discussed by the Director Principal and Principal:

• All 50 school buses are specially designated for school purposes only and all the drivers and lady attendants are well-trained.
• All routes have a designated bus driver and a lady attendant, and they follow the school bus rules as laid down in the school diary.
• Based on the incidents across the country, we have started regular breathalyser tests for our drivers, especially after a holiday.
• The buses are well equipped with Seat Belts, Emergency Exit Doors, Fire-Extinguisher, First-Aid Boxes, Hand Sanitizers, Panic Button Systems, GPS trackers and Cameras.
• Bus driver and lady attendant have been guided and are regularly trained not to hand over the learner to the parent if the escort card is not shown by the parents. The escort card must mandatorily have the photograph of the person who has come to collect the child. Examples were shared about how the parents sometimes misuse the escort card. A sample of escort cards was shown, and it was mentioned that every year we change the colour of the escort card to prevent misuse. In case the parent forgets the escort card, the learner is brought back to the campus and the parents have to come and pick up the learner from school.
• Educators and learners are picked up from and dropped off at their designated stops only. No deviation from the designated stops is allowed.
• The bus drivers have undergone police verification and relevant statutory papers have been documented as per the RTO norms and the recruitment process of PICT Model School. Without completing the documentation process, we do not allow the driver on the campus.
• All students on the bus are instructed to wear seat belts before the bus starts and they remain seated while on the move. Designated lady attendants are well-trained to ensure the discipline and safety of the learners on the bus.
• School transport policies are mentioned in our school diary. In most buses, educators travel with the learners. Educators are not allowed to use mobiles and headphones while travelling as they are on duty while on the bus.
• First Aid boxes are checked by the designated school nurse from the Jupiter Hospital. She checks the availability and expiry date of all essentials in the first aid boxes.
• The GPS of the buses is monitored using the GPS Tracker App while all the cameras are checked on a daily basis. Random monitoring for specific routes is done every day and documented by Mr. Vishal. The Leadership Team regularly checks and endorses the report of the checks carried on.
• Bus maintenance register and bus driver checklists are personally checked and signed at the end of every month by the Principal. Buses undergo checks regularly for mechanical fitness. There is a mechanic on campus to deal with regular maintenance.
• The Principal and admin staff are present in school before the buses arrive on campus in the morning and until the arrival of the last bus back on campus.
• A meeting for all drivers and lady attendants is conducted every Friday by the Transport Department. The MOM of this meeting is recorded in Marathi and each staff involved reads and signs the same. Every minor and major incident is recorded in the register and reported to the Leadership Team.
• Twice a year, a health checkup camp is organised by the school for all drivers. They get free eye checkups, BP and sugar checkups and are also given referral slips for hospitals if required.
• All drivers and support staff are guided about POCSO and POSH. They are acquainted with the provisions of the law in this regard by expert lawyers and the sessions are conducted in Marathi followed by question-answer sessions.

Review of updates in transport rules from the RTO office.

Mr. Dinesh Patil, RTO Assistant Inspector, shared information about the safety training program conducted by Pune Regional Transport Office. He offered to conduct a session for all the drivers at PICT. The Director Principal thanked him for the same and asked Mr. Sudeep Shinde, owner of Sudeep Logistics Pvt. Ltd., to fix a date and organize the program at PICT. It was decided that we will have the training program on Monday, 27th May 2024.

Exchange ideas and share information to strengthen our transport service.

Mr. Somnath Melshetty, from the ZP Education Office, enquired about how the attendants take care of a learner who gets hurt or is not feeling well on the bus. The Principal replied that every bus has a First Page 3 of 5

Aid Kit and a sick bag. Lady attendants are trained to use the same. Also, parents are informed to be at the stop to receive the child. If the child reports sick before boarding the bus, we reach out to the parents and suggest that they come and pick up the child from school. Mr. Melshetty appreciated the preparedness of the school in this regard.

Mr. Vikas Nagargoje from the ZP Educational Department enquired about what the school does if the driver is also not feeling well. The Director Principal shared an incident about one driver who was feeling weak in the morning while driving. Mr. Sharad from Sudeep Logistics, who is deployed on campus, went there and took care of him. Mr. Shard is a well-trained driver and often substitutes for drivers who are not well.

Any other point with the consent of the members.

The Director Principal shared the difficulties regarding the approach roads to the school. She also expressed concern about the increase in vehicle movement on these roads once the metro station becomes functional. Mr. Satesh Jadhav, Police Sub Inspector, assured the school that the traffic division would assign one staff near the metro station to ensure smooth movement of traffic. The Director Principal also requested them to look into the possibility of opening the underpass near Surya Hospital during school hours to ensure smooth flow of traffic.

The Director Principal mentioned that the compound wall of Balewadi stadium is broken and there is a lot of garbage lying around on the road. This is a serious concern since school students use that road. Mr. Vikas Nagargoje advised the school to register this complaint and present the same to Mr. Dabkekar, Deputy Commissioner at the Aundh Kshetriya Karyalay. The Director Principal thanked him for the suggestion and assured him that the school would take this up on priority. Mr. Pawan Singh, Parent Representative, also assured the meeting that he would help in this regard. He mentioned that he has already spoken to the authorities and the school staff should go and meet the officials in this regard.

Mr. Satesh Jadhav, Police Sub Inspector, enquired about the live monitoring system of the school buses. The Director Principal said that all buses have cameras and the checking is done by the team on a daily basis. The recording can be manually accessed from the Principal’s room also.

Mr. Sudeep Shinde, owner of Sudeep Logistics Pvt. Ltd. presented a few concerns to Mr. Dinesh Patil, RTO Assistant Inspector. He mentioned that the RTO has mandated RTO certified GPS tracking system for new buses, and it costs Rs.10000 per bus. He also enquired about the fast tag being made mandatory for school buses which does not cross tolls. It was also discussed that the new buses have to have mandatory fire alarms and sprinkler systems which will make the procurement of buses very expensive.

The Director Principal appreciated the government for taking such measures for the safety of the children however, she mentioned that such high costs would be difficult to bear for most schools and the transport costs would rise. For parents, it will be an additional burden to pay the increased costs. Mr. Dinesh Patil informed the members present that the laws are made by the Central Government in the best interest of the children and the concerns can be raised by the transport service providers through proper channels.

The Director Principal appreciated the lady police constable who has been doing outstanding work at the Radha Chowk traffic signal. She also thanked the Metro officials who have been constantly coordinating with and supporting the school in smooth traffic movement.

Dr, Chaudhuri requested Mr. Pawan Singh to present his views as a parent partner. He appreciated the school rules and norms and also the efforts which the school takes. He requested the school to take some measures during the summers since the buses become very hot. The Director Principal mentioned that she was looking into ways in which this problem can be tackled.

All the members present appreciated the school’s transport facilities, traffic management and the safety and security policies of the school.

Vote of thanks:

There being no other agenda, the meeting ended with a vote of thanks by Dr. Pampa Chaudhuri. She thanked all the members for their valuable input and support. She also requested the members to go for a bus inspection and make suggestions to improve the transport system of the school, if any.

After the meeting, the committee members carried out an inspection of the buses with special checks of the functioning of emergency doors, panic buttons, cameras, and first aid boxes. The RTO Inspector and PSI checked all the equipment in the buses and were very appreciative of all the measures taken by the school. The members applauded the school for the stringent measures regarding safety and security and urged us to continue to maintain the same standards.