The Bombay High Court on Tuesday, said that authorities should inculcate a law abiding culture in citizens. Especially, parents who for sake of convenience send their children in mini vans, auto rickshaws, not following proper safety rules, as done by school buses.

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A division bench of Justice Naresh Patil and Justice G S Kulkarni while hearing a petition filed by an NGO, PTA United, highlighting the problem of non-implementation of Motor Vehicle rules in school buses, said "Schools should, on their own, devise a scheme which minimises usage of private vehicles, mini vans and auto and make school buses the preferred mode of transport."

It urged the authorities to sensitise parents on the possible drawbacks of children being transported to schools in unsafe vehicles. It also asked them to improve complaint mechanism to allow parents and others to lodge complaints.

The state government informed the court that there are 1,08,000 schools across the state, of which 90,000 schools have a committee and 25,000 school buses are used for ferrying children. To which the court said that the state should continue carrying out random checks, to ensure that school bus contractors comply with the said rules and the children are safe.