Following Government Threat That Violators Will Face Action, 5600 Owners Have Applied For Conversion Of Permits After endless extensions, the transport department's scheme for re-registration of school cabs as commercial vehicles finally seems to have found some takers. With the state government coming down heavily on van owners and announcing that stern action will be taken against all violators, the department has been flooded with requests for conversion of permits. A senior transport department official said that as many as 5,600 applications have already been received, of which about 2,600 have been processed and the new permits issued. "The last date of application is June 30, by which time we are expecting some more van owners to apply. The processing from our side could take some time, so those whose applications are in process won't be prosecuted. The government will ensure strict action against the others,' said the official. Those who fail to apply will face the music as the department is planning a strict enforcement drive for non-compliance with norms. Officials clarified that there will be no extension of deadline this time around and only those who apply till June 30 will be considered. With schools opening in July, this could spell trouble for parents using unregistered vans, as they might not be allowed to operate at all. "I have been trying to contact the van driver, who takes my daughter to school. We need to check if he has completed the formalities, or we will have to make some alternative arrangements to ferry her to school,' said Monisha Agarwal, a resident of Sunder Vihar in west Delhi. As per the procedure, the new scheme requires all van owners, operating their vehicles to ferry school children, to register afresh with the state transport department and get a contract carriage commercial permit for the vehicle. The transport department first came out with a public notice to the effect on July 26, 2007, making it mandatory for all vans to have CNG and not LPG as a fuel and speed governors too. Under the scheme, owners have to pay a one-time fee, fit a speed governor and run on CNG fuel. All vans will be painted with a 9'-wide, yellow strip around the body and outside school hours, it will be authorised to ferry other passengers. Industry experts, however, say that just conversion of permits is not going to help. Said SP Singh of the Indian Federation of Transportation Research and Training (IFTRT): "A week before the schools closed for summer vacations, we followed some school cabs which had been painted as per the new scheme. To our horror, the vans were driving at speeds higher than 70 kmph, despite the fact the speed governors are mandatory. This shows that without enforcement, such schemes are not going to serve any purpose.' Going by unofficial estimates, there are about 8,500 private school cabs in Delhi. In addition, schools also hire mini buses and chartered buses, which are equally unsafe, as they run on inter-state permits for which speed governors are not mandatory. He added that the NCR area should be considered as one for the scheme and the government should also make schools and parents accountable for allowing children in unauthorised vans. Singh said this is the only way to make the scheme fool-proof and ensure safety of all children, as the transport department staff can't be expected to be present everywhere. WHAT IS NEEDED A commercial registration with a number in the series DL 1K A horizontal golden-yellow border on all sides of van Speed governor Authorised CNG kit, not LPG Vehicles must not be more than 15 years old Good seats, with no overload. The number of kids should never exceed 1.5 times the carrying capacity given in the registration certificate NO KIDDING: Govt has processed 2,600 applications and has set June 30 as the deadline for licence conversion