Lucknow, Jan 2 (IANS): The Uttar Pradesh government has made CCTV cameras mandatory in all school vans in the state to ensure the security and safety of school children.

A notification, issued by state transport principal secretary L Venkateshwarlu, said the provision would come into effect three months after the date of publication of the notification in the Gazette.

A senior transport official said the provision already existed in the Uttar Pradesh Motor Vehicle Rules and CCTV cameras had been installed in some school vans as well.

“Now, the notification has fixed the deadline for installing CCTV cameras in all school vans in the state,” he said.

Such cameras, according to the official, would be installed in all public transport vehicles once the proposed centralised vehicle location tracking centre was ready to function.

The transport department has already engaged a private agency for the implementation of the Vehicle Location Tracking System (VLTS) in the state.

The agency has the mandate to deploy, integrate, test and commission a vehicle tracking platform for tracking and monitoring vehicles under the Nirbhaya framework.

“The ambitious project seeks to dovetail all the public transport vehicles, except two-wheelers, three-wheelers and e-rickshaws, with vehicle location tracking devices and the location of all such vehicles will be monitored in real time by an integrated control and command centre,” the official said.

The transport department’s action is in line with the Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) notification and order mandating that specified public service vehicle, as defined under section 2(35) of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, and vehicles requiring/having national permit be equipped with the Vehicle Location Tracking Device along with one or more emergency buttons.