By IANS,
Ropar (Punjab) : Authorities in Punjab’s Ropar district Thursday ordered a probe into an incident in which students from a village government school were illegally transported on a tractor-trolley for a film show held here by the district administration.
At least 26 students had a narrow escape when the tractor-trolley overturned Wednesday evening, when they were returning, but no student was seriously injured.
“We have marked an inquiry into the incident. There are directions that tractor-trolleys and trucks cannot be used to ferry people. We will enquire into how these students were sent on a tractor-trolley,” Ropar district police chief L.K. Yadav told IANS.
According to police, students of Government Senior Secondary School, Laudi-Majra, were returning after watching a children’s movie and a feature film Wednesday evening, when the vehicle in which they were travelling overturned at a sharp turn.
“The injured students were taken to a local hospital for first aid. We have registered a case and arrested the driver Swaran Singh,” said the police official here Thursday.
“Most of the students only had bruises and cuts. Four-five of them had some injuries which required stitches and bandages,” a doctor at the government hospital here said.
The movies were sponsored by the district administration as part of the ongoing children’s film festival.
Agitated parents of the injured students held the school principal responsible for the accident.
“School authorities did not even inform us or seek our consent before taking our children for the movie show. Moreover, they have violated the traffic rules, as trolleys are not meant for transporting people. The school principal is responsible for this mishap and administration should take strict action against him,” said Jarnail Singh, father of an injured student.
Principal Prem Singh said: “We had sent the students in the tractor-trolley as we had no other option. We had got an invitation from the administration but they did not provide us transport and it was beyond our budget to hire buses.”
Ropar is around 45 kilometres from state capital Chandigarh.