Patna: The transport department made schoolgirls tie rakhi on the wrists of two-wheeler riders caught without helmets on Sunday, the day of Raksha Bandhan.

The noble idea, however, was not novel.

News agency PTI reported that traffic police in Navi Mumbai also undertook a similar drive on Sunday, the only difference being that it was female traffic police personnel who tied rakhi on the wrists of violators there.

The motive, however, was similar: To drive home the message that sisters at home are concerned about the safety of riders who should wear helmets for their own protection.

The rakhi drive came a day after the department launched a renewed helmet checking drive across the state in which 2,250 people were slapped with fines. On Sunday, the traffic cops were a little more lenient; offenders were let off with a warning and a rakhi.

A group of girl students from government schools were deputed on duty along with officials of the transport department.

Whoever was found riding without a helmet was stopped.

"It was an attempt to promote road safety in the city. The idea is to make the violators realise that there are family members like brothers, sisters and mothers who wait for them to return home safely," transport secretary Sanjay Kumar Agarwal told The Telegraph.

"If they do not wear helmets they are putting their own lives at risk," he added.

The little girls who tied the rakhis urged the violators to wear helmets, and said they care for them like sisters do for brothers. Most of the violators were embarrassed when the little girls were making them aware about the traffic rules.

"Everyone is aware that not wearing the helmet is a violation of traffic rules but despite that they do not follow it, so we thought of using this method to make them feel ashamed that even little girls know the rule but they do not," Agarwal stressed.

"The next time, when they will go out from their house, they may remember the faces of those girls and wear the helmet for safety," he added.

As promised, the transport department also gave free rides to women passengers on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan on buses run on all eight routes by Bihar State Road Transport Corporation Limited.

"I was not aware about this decision but when I boarded the bus and asked the conductor for a ticket he told me there was no need to pay," said Savita, who lives on Ashok Rajpath.

"It was really a surprise gift for me as I saved Rs 60, which means a lot for poor people. We are four sisters and none of us was charged."