Punjab CM announces ex-gratia for families of victims in Longowal school van fire incident

Expressing shock and grief over the demise of four children in a school van fire incident near Longowal in Sangrur district, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 7.5 lakhs each to the families of the victim and also ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident.

"The Chief Minister also ordered the Transport Department to immediately launch a statewide checking of all school buses to ensure safety and security of the students to avoid recurrence of such tragic mishaps in the future. Captain Amarinder also directed the District Child Protection Officers of Social Security Department to keep a strict vigil on schools vehicles violating provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act and also the school managements that are using worn out vehicles for transportation of students," according to a press release by the CMO on Saturday.

The incident occurred when the school van was on its way to drop the nursery wing kids of a private school of Longowal at their respective dropping points on Saturday.

A case under Section 304 of the IPC has been registered in connection with the incident.