It took more than three years and two cases of sexual violence involving schoolgirls for the Pune Regional Transport Office (RTO), to tighten the rules pertaining to school transport safety.

Despite repeated warnings by Pune RTO, only 1,393 schools out of 6,896 schools in Pune district have formed the school bus committee. Fie/Pic

As per a notice issued by the RTO last week, the transport authority will issue permits to private bus owners only if parents of the children availing the bus services are ready to sign an agreement with the vehicle owners stating that they have no objection in sending their kids to school by their buses.

The decision was taken after none of the private schools took the RTO notices regarding the school bus committee seriously. After a 11-year-old schoolgirl was raped by the school bus driver in October last year and a male school bus attendant molested a four-year-old girl in April this year, the RTO and the education board have decided to keep track of the operations of school buses.

Even after the RTO and education department stressed on the June 30 deadline, not even a single private school has came forward to register any committees.

The school bus transport rules, which came into effect in March 2011, have stipulated various regulations for school buses, bus operators, the transport department and the school authorities. Despite repeated warnings by Pune RTO, only 1,393 schools out of 6,896 schools in Pune district have formed the school bus committee.