Campaign for bus drivers from Sept 1

Pune: The state transport department and school bus associations will sensitise drivers about the POCSO Act and subsequent alienation of family of the accused during a campaign to protect school children from any abuse. A senior RTO official said they plan to start the campaign from Sept 1 to 15. “Coordination is going on with school bus associations,” he added.

Anil Garg, president of School Bus Owners’ Association in Maharashtra, told TOI that they had begun a sensitisation programme for the drivers in parts of Mumbai. “We have alerted our people in Pune too. Transporters are being told to make sure that drivers are aware of the POCSO Act.

Buses must have a woman attendant and operational CCTV cameras. Schools must provide a woman attendant if a bus has none. Bus drivers should know all these norms so that they act as a deterrent,” he said.

There are close to 4,000 registered school buses and 2,100 vans ferrying schoolchildren in Pune. Another RTO officials said the campaign will be rigorous. We also published the following articles recently Mumbai school bus association launches sensitisation camps for drivers after Badlapur incident The School Bus Owners Association (SBOA) is holding sensitization camps for school bus drivers in Mumbai and its western suburbs to prevent child abuse.

The sessions focus on maintaining professional boundaries, ensuring female attendants' presence, and using functional CCTV cameras. The initiative follows a shocking abuse incident i.