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Regional Transport Offices, which grant driving licences and register vehicles, will be overhauled soon to bring an end to corrupt practices, Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said here on Tuesday.
Speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of the Indian Roads Congress, Gadkari said the
Government will introduce the Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill in the next session of Parliament. The Bill is being amended after studying practices in six developed countries – the US, the UK, Canada, Germany, Singapore and Japan, he said.
“Once enacted, it will end malpractices in regional transport offices (RTOs) across the nation,” Gadkari said, adding that the new law would provide permits online, impose fines on traffic violators on the basis of camera recordings, and keep a proper record of all driving licenses issued.
Earlier, addressing the Indian Road Congress (IRC) meeting, attended by highway engineers and professionals from across the country, Gadkari urged the organisation to focus on research & development and road design.
He urged IRC to study the use of latest technology in road-building as well as revenue-generating measures, such as laying optic fibre, transmission lines or gas pipelines under highways.
Gadkari said highway plans should include road-side amenities, such as restaurants, washrooms, shops and gardens on every 50 km stretch, adding that the Ministry was planning to get foreign technology to transplant uprooted trees alongside highways.
The Minister said the road transport and shipping sectors would contribute at least 2 per cent to the country’s GDP in the next two years provided ‘people don not sit on files.”
Admitting that the highways sector was passing through a rough patch due to clearance delays, projects being dropped and bank reluctance to grant loans, he said “Not a single kilometre of highway network was added in July.”
He urged IRC members to prepare project reports listing the hurdles and submit these to their local MPs so that the issues can be flagged.
Lashing out at the way detailed project reports (DPRs) were being prepared so far, Gadkari said these reports had done away with underpasses and flyovers, leading to higher road fatalities (1.31 lakh a year). “Who cleared these?” he said, adding that the names of the contractor, engineer, supervisor etc should be displayed near all highway projects to increase accountability.
“Gone are the days when Planning Commission used to do planning for our roads and now the Ministry will prepare its own DPRs,” Gadkari said.
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