MUMBAI, May 9 -- In a meeting held by transport minister Pratap Sarnaik on Thursday regarding the operations of school buses, it was revealed that 50,000 to 60,000 unauthorised school buses were plying in Maharashtra. Sarnaik gave the bus owners a three-month deadline to pay penalty and register themselves with the authorities else, action would be taken against the transport department officers. The meeting was attended by transport commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar, school bus operators and representatives of parents' associations. The issue of student safety was discussed, and suggestions and objections were invited for amendments in the 2011 regulations. The operators complained that though they were following all the transport department guidelines in the running of approximately 40,000 authorised school buses, 50,000 to 60,000 unauthorised school buses were functional. They also complained that officials from the Regional Transport Office (RTO) were hand in glove with the illegal operators. "This is not just for legal requirements but for students' safety," Sarnaik said. The parents' associations demanded a panic button, CCTV and female attendants....