LUCKNOW, April 7 -- Concerned over the safety of children commuting to school, the Uttar Pradesh transport department is set to introduce QR codes on school buses and vans, allowing parents to access key vehicle details by scanning them. Once parents scan the code on a vehicle, they can check its fitness status, permit validity, and driver details including name and licence number. "Parents have the right to know the condition of the vehicle their child uses, whether its fitness is valid, and if it is operating with proper permits," said Prabhat Pandey, RTO Enforcement, Lucknow zone. The system relies on data uploaded to the Integrated School Vehicle Management (ISVM) portal since April 1. Once complete, unique QR codes will be generated for each registered vehicle on the portal. Schools must affix these codes on their vehicles. Pandey noted the rollout faces a legal limitation. "There is currently no specific legal provision to penalise vehicles for not displaying QR codes. It has been made mandatory through instructions during the statewide checking drive, but there is no provision to issue challans solely for not pasting the QR," he said. The initiative emerged following recent fatal incidents. On March 2, a seven-year-old girl died in Kasganj after allegedly falling `through a damaged school bus floor. A nine-year-old girl in Agra slipped through a broken bus floor section covered with a wooden board on March 12. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath directed the statewide enforcement drive running April 1-15. Officials plan phased implementation across all 75 districts to ensure smooth data integration and address technical issues. The ISVM portal creates a centralised database of school buses, vans, and contract vehicles, enabling authorities to monitor compliance, inspection records, and vehicle movement in real time. Schools have been directed to upload complete vehicle details and driver information on the portal. While the focus remains on school-owned and contracted vehicles, privately operated school transport services will eventually join the system once the database is fully compiled, officials said....