An ‘app’t tool for child safety

The Telangana Transport Department has recently developed an in-house app ‘TS School Bus’ that will throw up much detail about the fitness of a school bus, the driver’s licence and more when one enters the registration number.

Demonstrating the effectiveness of the app, Transport Commissioner Sandeep Kumar Sultania keyed in at random the number, TS-02-UA-0293, and the information popped up on his smart phone. The details included the name of the owner of the vehicle, name of the driver on duty, his driving licence number, validity and name of the attendant on duty.

Explaining the usefulness of the app, he said that it is intended to be of use to parents. Using the Global Positioning System (GPS), a parent can track real-time, the movement of bus that is transporting his/her child.

“Any parent with a smart phone can just download this app for information about his/her child’s movement to and fro the school, a facility that will go a long way to keep them informed,” Mr. Sultania said.

There are 18,595 school buses plying in the 10 districts of Telangana and over a period of six weeks before schools re-opened this year, the Transport Department went on overdrive motivating school managements to bring them for getting fresh fitness certificates. “We went hammer and tongs against managements who were reluctant to get their vehicles repaired and made the buses completely road-worthy. We cannot compromise on safety,” he stated.