PUNE: The city’s regional transport office (RTO) will start inspection of school buses and vehicles carrying school students from April.Officials said the checks will be stricter than ever. A proposal regarding the filing of criminal cases against vehicle owners not following norms has been finalised and will be sent to the Pune police commissioner, who is also the chairperson of the district school transport committee. The committee is expected to meet this month.“A few days ago, a student of a private school in Charholi was run over by the school bus in which he was travelling. Currently, examinations are going on in several schools so the checks, on whether the vehicles are following safety norms, will be carried out in April,” an official told TOI.The official said the checks will involve detailed investigations in different aspects — such as whether the required modifications have been made in school transport vehicles — besides background verifications of drivers and conductors. It is the responsibility of schools, transporters and even parents to make sure that everything is in place,” the RTO official said.“We are pitching for criminal cases under the IPC for violation of the School Bus Policy . Just suspending the registration is not enough. A special slot has been created for school bus fitness tests on Saturdays and Sundays,” the official said.

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