Bhubaneswar, Feb 20: In a bid to debar auto-rickshaws from transporting school children, the state transport department is planning to take action against concerned schools.

The proposal came in the wake of death of a six-year-old school boy who died after falling from an auto-rickshaw in Ganjam district on Wednesday.

Commerce and Transport Minister Padmanabha Behera said that new school need to obtain permission of the department for transportation of school children.

A number of mishaps related to transport of school children dangerously in auto-rickshaws have taken place in the state recently.

Transportation of schoolchildren by autor-ickshaws, Omni, Tata Magic, Bolero and other vehicles is not legal as per the 2016 policy on transport for schoolchildren. However, the norms are often being flouted by the small vehicles with minimal enforcement by the department.

Behera said that a drive will be soon launched in the state against small vehicles ferrying schoolchildren without adequate safety measures.