The Union Minister
of State (Independent Charge) for Road Transport and Highways,
Maj. Gen. (Retd.) B.C. Khanduri today inaugurated the 30th
Meeting of the Transport Development Council (TDC), here. The
TDC comprises Transport Ministers of all the States and meets
from time to time to deliberate upon issues related to road transport
in the country.
Speaking on the
occasion, Gen. Khanduri said that there is an immediate need to
curb the menace of over-loading of commercial vehicles. Some States
are reported to have issued certain type of ‘passes’ thereby legalising
over-loading, he said. As the roads on which over-loaded vehicles
ply deteriorate six times faster, he sought the cooperation of
all States in curbing over-loading. Targeting the States that
have legalised over-loading, he announced that the Centre would
be forced to take punitive action against such States from the
next fiscal year.
Highlighting
the aspect of inspection and maintenance of on-road vehicles,
the Minister said, "It is high time that we think of bringing
the non-transport vehicles (private) also under the purview of
the fitness regime." At present, only the transport (commercial)
vehicles are subjected to annual fitness regime, which is carried
out through the RTOs or through the Testing Stations authorised
by the State Governments.
The Minister
pointed out the need for implementation of Code of Practice for
Standardisation of Bus Body Design within a specific time frame
throughout the country. The Ministry has already circulated a
Code of Practice for Bus Body Design to all the States for approval,
he said.
Regarding emissions
from motor vehicles, the Minister said that the existing PUC (Pollution
Under Control) norms in respect of petrol vehicles envisage measurement
of Carbon Monoxide (CO) only. However, in line with practice prevalent
in the developed countries, there is an urgent need to measure
the Hydrocarbon emissions also, he added.
Regarding the proposed
introduction of High Security Registration Plates from 28th
February, 2003, Gen. Khanduri said that in view of the matter
being subjudice and unpreparedness of the States and Union Territories,
the date may have to be postponed appropriately. He strongly urged
upon the States to remove hoardings and unauthorised check-posts
from the National Highways for smooth flow of traffic.
The Minister also
called for greater transparency and efficiency at the cutting
edge of motor transport administration, that is the institution
of the RTO. "Standardised software for both front-end and
back-end computerisation of records has been developed by this
Ministry and the NIC. It has been made available free of cost
to all States and UTs. While the back-end computerisation aims
at computerisation of the existing records in respect of driving
licensing, registration certificates and the permits issued, thereby
leading to an increase in revenue to the States, the front-end
computerisation envisages introduction of smart card based driving
licenses and registration certificates. Over 100 number of RTOs
are either already computerised or are in the process of being
computerised. I would urge all the States to speedily computerise
the RTO offices. This computerisation has in fact led to an increase
in revenue from 12% to nearly 40% in some of the RTOs that were
surveyed", he said.
Gen. Khanduri instructed
that a Committee of States be formed to deliberate upon the suggestions
in today’s Meeting and final recommendations be forwarded to the
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways by 15th March,
2003 for further necessary action in a time-bound manner.
The Minister also
gave away the National Road Safety Awards for the year 2001 on
the occasion. Among those who attended today’s Meeting included
Transport Ministers, Secretaries and Commissioners of the States
and UTs and senior officials of the Ministry of Road Transport
and Highways.
