Punjab school bus safety: 1 in 4 buses broke rules, 3,621 challaned in 21 months

Chandigarh. Punjab’s own inspection figures show that 26 out of every 100 school buses checked since January 2025 were caught breaking safety rules. Worse, the share of rule-breakers has gone up this year.

Social Security, Women and Child Development Minister Dr Baljit Kaur said on Monday that district school vehicle checking committees inspected 13,995 school buses across the state under the Safe School Vehicle Policy between January 2025 and September 2026. Of these, 3,621 buses were challaned and 31 were impounded.

“Every child has the right to travel to school safely. There will be no compromise on children’s safety,” the minister said.

Violations up in 2026

The year-wise data shows the problem growing:

– 2025: 8,325 buses checked, 2,026 challaned (about 24%), 24 impounded

– January–September 2026 (special drive): 5,670 buses checked, 1,595 challaned (about 28%), 7 impounded

Only 31 of the 3,621 buses caught were taken off the road. That is fewer than one in 100. This year, just seven of 1,595 offending buses were impounded.

The government did not say how many school buses run in Punjab, which rules were broken most often, how much was collected in fines, or which schools were penalised.

Crashes on the ground

Police and local media reports from the past three months show what these numbers mean on Punjab’s roads:

– July 30, Patran (Patiala): Two Class XII students on a motorcycle, Mohit Singh, 18, and Prince, 17, died after a collision with a private school bus near Khanewal village on the Patran-Jakhal road. Villagers blocked the road and alleged that about 45 children were packed into the 25-seater bus. They also questioned whether its permit and papers were valid.

– October 1, Hoshiarpur: A private school bus on its morning run overturned into fields near Rahat village. Several children were hurt, and residents pulled them out.

– October 6, Ludhiana: A BCM Arya school bus carrying 20 to 21 children ran over a sand heap in Aman Nagar and snapped an electricity pole. High-voltage wires fell on the bus, and some children were injured. The driver ran away, and police are searching for him.

– October 16, Jalandhar: A school bus carrying about 10 children lost control in the Sodal industrial area while trying to avoid a pickup and hit a house gate.

– October 24, Mullanpur Dakha (Ludhiana): The tie-rod, a key steering part, of a GTB Senior Secondary School bus carrying around 20 children broke near Detwal village. The driver lost control. The bus overturned into fields.

– October 28, Talwara (Hoshiarpur): A Sanskar Valley School van swerved to avoid another vehicle and hit a roadside tree. The driver, a woman helper and seven children were hurt. The youngest was four years old. The seriously injured driver was referred to Jalandhar.

– October 30, Goraya (Jalandhar): A private school bus carrying about 25 children crashed into a solar installation near Dhandwar. No child was hurt. Locals blamed speeding. The driver, Ramandeep Singh, said the brakes failed.

A snapped tie-rod and failed brakes are exactly the kind of faults these inspections are meant to catch. The 2025 checks also came in the same year that six school students and their van driver were killed in a head-on crash with a loaded tipper near Patiala, while returning home from a private school.

Minister orders strict action

Dr Baljit Kaur said the Bhagwant Singh Mann-led government has a zero-tolerance policy towards any violation that puts children at risk. She directed all deputy commissioners, the district checking committees, the departments concerned, school managements and vehicle operators to enforce every provision of the policy. Wherever they find faults, they must fix them at once.

“Keeping children safe is a shared responsibility,” she said.

She asked school managements to run only buses that meet safety standards. She asked operators to follow every guideline and parents to stay alert and report violations to the authorities.

The minister said the government would keep tightening checks so that every child in Punjab reaches school and returns home safely each day.