Punjab govt to launch awareness drive to check school bus

Punjab government today said it will launch an awareness drive to check accidents related to school buses in the state.
"To check accidents related to school vehicles, an awareness drive, in association with private schools, will be started by the state education department," state Education minister Daljit Singh Cheema said.
"Under this drive, the private school owners as well as vehicle drivers, will be given training about traffic rules as well as the Safe School Vahan Scheme," he added.
Speaking on the inauguration of 36th National Junior Taekwondo Championship, Cheema termed the recent road accident in Amritsar which led to the death of school children as "very unfortunate".

Cheema said he will make sure no such incidents take place in future, adding "the Education Department would be starting an awareness campaign soon".
"Due to foggy days ahead, the school vehicles might face difficulties on roads, so the department has decided to start an awareness programme to educate drivers," he said.

"Safety of students is the first responsibility of the school owners," he said.
While speaking about the initiatives of the state government regarding sports, Cheema said the SAD-BJP led state government has spent around Rs 200 crore for strengthening sports infrastructure.
"A special fund has been started for sports, under which Rs 90 crore are being spent annually," he said adding "the state government has formed a new policy to provide government jobs to sportspersons winning laurels on international level".

He said that for promoting Hockey, ultra modern stadiums have been set up at Mohali, Bathinda, Faridkot, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar.
Commenting on the upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections, he said the SAD-BJP combine does not have any "real" political opponent and instead, it is working hard to increase the number of winning seats as well as the vote share.
He said the coalition would form the government for the third time in a row that would speed up the ongoing development in the state.
On a question related to the future of AAP leaders, Cheema said they are regularly being accused of indulging in various criminal incidents and the day is not far when this party would be "completely wiped out" from the poll scene well before the elections.