BHOPAL: Kids going to schools by vans and mini-buses stand far more exposed to danger in the absence of a monitoring authority to ensure provisions laid down by the Supreme Court (SC).A day after molestation of a 3-and-a-half-year-old girl in school van came to light, TOI spoke to van owners’ association to find out if it digs into the background of drivers before hiring them for school service.Shiv Kumar Soni, president, Madhya Pradesh School Chalak Seva Samiti, said, “We do a thorough background check before hiring drivers for school vans. We also see if police verification of concerned driver has been done. We also make sure that the driver has at least five years of experience.”When asked about the number of drivers whose verification had been done and those pending for renewal or new recruits that still needed verification, Soni refused to provide information.“We have done verification. We have around 12,000 drivers in Bhopal . Those who wish to see police verification can ask drivers to show it to them or check at concerned police station,” he said.Prabodh Pandya, secretary, Madhya Pradesh Parents Association said there is no monitoring authority to keep a check on van association to make them abide by guidelines.“The van owners do not have a monitoring authority and many a times they do not even conduct police verification. The accused in the molestation case on Thursday was an underage. Schools do not take responsibility if a van meets with a mishap. They say they are not responsible for it as the van was hired by parents,” said Pandya.School principals also confirmed it is the responsibility parents to check police verification and identity of van drivers and not of schools.Sister Lily, principal, St Joseph Convent Idgah Hills said, “We do a thorough background check and see documents of bus drivers and conductors are verified. But school vans are hired by parents themselves, so it is up to parents to see if they driver they hire is experienced and has his police verification done.“Parents should be active in ensuring their child’s safety, but none of them ever bothered to check police verification of drivers. They complain when such an incident takes place instead of being pro-active about it,” Pandya said.District education officer Dharmendra Sharma on Thursday told TOI the school education department has not conducted an inspection to check whether police verification of transporters has been done or not. In the absence of proper monitoring authority, security of children is bound to be compromised now and again.

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