UP government makes CCTV cameras mandatory in school vans

NEW DELHI: Uttar Pradesh government has made CCTV cameras mandatory in all school vans in the state to ensure the security and safety of school children. As per the notification issued by transport principal secretary L Venkateshwarlu, the provision would come into effect three months after the date of publication of the notification.

The order states, buses and vans must be painted yellow and the word ‘School Bus’ must be written on both the front and and rear sides.

The vehicles cannot be fitted with pressure horns or multi-tone horns, nor can they have alarm bells or or sirens for emergencies. The vehicles must have fire extinguisher, GPS tracking, and an attendant.

According to a senior transport official, the CCTV cameras had previously been put in several school vans and the provision already existed in Uttar Pradesh Motor Vehicle Rules. He said, "The notification has now set a deadline for installing CCTV cameras in all state-owned school vans."

All public transport vehicles would have these cameras installed, he claimed, as soon as the centralised vehicle location tracking facility was operational.

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The action taken by the transport department is in accordance with the order issued by the Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) requiring that vehicles requiring or possessing a national permit, as well as specified public service vehicles as defined under section 2(35) of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, be equipped with a vehicle location tracking device (VLTD) in addition to one or more emergency buttons.